


A Ghost Boy and His Dog

by MarshmallowMayhem



Category: Danny Phantom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2019-11-18 17:41:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 24,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18124427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarshmallowMayhem/pseuds/MarshmallowMayhem
Summary: Danny convinces his parents to let him keep Cujo, the glowing green ghost dog, as a pet. What follows is a series of light-hearted interaction between Cujo, Danny, and others.





	1. Can I keep Him?

It wasn’t the first time Danny had stared down the barrel of an ecto gun. It wasn’t even the first time his parents had both pointed ecto guns at him. It was, however, the first time they had done it while he was in his human form. Although to be fair, they weren’t actually pointing the guns at him. Instead, they were pointing them at the glowing green bundle of fur and drool in his arms.

“Just hear me out,” Danny begged, wrapping his arms around as much of the pup as he could in hopes his parents would hesitate to shoot if they thought they might hit him.

“Danny,” Maddie began patiently. “I know that looks like a cute puppy, but it’s actually a dangerous ghost.”

“I know that, but…”

“Listen to your mother Danny,” Jack chimed in. “We just want to keep you safe. So please, step away from the ghost.”

“No!”

Danny took a deep breath and tried to choose his words carefully. He had to make this work.

“Yes, he is a ghost, but he’s also a dog, and he’s already been trained.”

“Danny,” Maddie spoke softly.

“Please, just listen. Look, he’s not even trying to hurt me.”

The small pup was happily wiggling in Danny’s arms and trying to turn enough to lick his chin.

“See, if he really wanted to get away he could have gone intangible, or tried to bite me, or used some weird ghost power to hurt me, but instead he’s happy. He’s acting just like any dog would, he just happens to be a ghost.”

Danny’s parent glanced at each other. Their weapons lowered slightly but their fingers still rested on the triggers.

“Are you suggesting we just let it go?” Maddie asked. Her tone made it cleared she didn’t like the idea.

“Actually,” Danny hesitated, but only for a moment, “I was thinking…maybe we could keep him?”

“To dissect?” Jack asked confused. Why else would they keep a ghost?

“No!” Danny said horrified. “As a pet.”

“What!” Jack and Maddie proclaimed in horrified unison.

“Son,” Jack demanded, “Do you know what are you saying?”

“Yes,” Danny insisted. “Just think about it, he’s already trained as a guard dog so he’ll be perfect to protect the house from ghost intruders.”

Danny could see the thought working its way into his parent’s heads. They were actually considering it. He had to keep going.

“And we can train him even further. Think how easy it will be to track other ghosts with a ghost hound. He can even follow them through walls so you’ll never lose the trail.”

The glance his parents exchanged was reassuring. They were seriously thinking about the benefits now. He just had to push a little more.

“He can even help to catch ghosts, not just track them.”

“I don’t know,” Jack said. “He seems a bit small to be fighting ghosts.”

Danny decided not to mention that the currently tiny pup could easily grow to the size of a car in moments.

“Fair point. But there are other benefits like since he can turn intangible he can let himself out to use the yard, and since he’s already a ghost we don’t have to worry about vet bills.”

Danny was starting to run out of good reasons to keep the ghost dog. He had other reasons, of course, but, they weren’t ones he wanted to share with his parents. For one, he didn’t want to explain why a ghost pup kept following him around for no apparent reason no matter how many times he tossed him back into the ghost zone. That would mean explaining why he was catching a ghost dog in the first place and why it kept coming back to him. He also didn’t want to explain that getting them to like and accept the pup was a first step in getting them to admit not all ghosts are bad and then maybe, just maybe they’ll stop trying to catch and dissect his alter ego. Maybe after that, he might actually feel safe telling them he had superpowers that turned him into a ghost boy. But before all that he had to get them to like this dog.

“I don’t know,” Maddie said hesitantly. “Looking after a dog is hard enough, it’s a lot of responsibility. Looking after a ghost dog will be even trickier.”

“But we’re a ghost hunting family.” Danny hoped emphasizing ghost activities as a family thing would make them more open to the idea. “After all, I’m a Fenton,” Danny said proudly, “and no one knows ghost better than Fentons.”

Maddie flushed with joy and Jack beamed proudly.

“Well, son,” said Jack, “If you feel that strongly about it I supposed we can give it a shot.”

“Just remember,” Maddie said in a gentle, but warning tone, “If it turns out to be an evil ghost dog, we’ll have to send it back to the ghost zone.”

“He won’t. I promise. Thank you so much.”

Excited his plan worked Danny hurried up the stairs.

“Danny.”

Danny stopped when he heard his father’s voice.

“If you’re going to keep him you might as well think of a name.”

“Actually, I already did. I’ve been calling him Cujo.”

For a moment Danny’s parents were silent. Then his dad laughed.

“I like it.”


	2. Making Friends

“Dude, I can’t believe you actually convinced your parents to keep that thing as a pet.”

Tucker was actively standing on the far side of the Fenton’s yard, and slightly pressed against the back door, just in case Cujo decided to go big and snack on tech geek. Cujo was busy digging holes in the grass. Danny had tied a line from the Fenton ghost fisher to his collar and was praying he didn’t see a squirrel and rip through it. Danny was busy digging holes along the perimeter of the yard and pounding foot long stakes into them. Each steak was a high tech piece of Fenton ghost tech which would create a barrier around the yard and prevent Cujo from running away and terrorizing the city by accident. It was one of the conditions of being allowed to keep the ghost pup.

“Hey, Tuck, can you hand me another spike?”

“That would mean getting near your new dog. Sorry, but pass. Last time I went near that thing it tried to eat me.”

“Fair enough.”

The back door suddenly swung open and collided with Tucker.

“Hey, do you mind, I can’t get out with you in the way.”

Tucker peaked around the door to see their other friend, Sam, carrying a box and looking annoyed.

“You could say please, you know.” Tucker snorted but moved anyway. “What’s with the box?”

“Bribes,” Sam said gleefully. “I figure if Danny’s going to have a ghost pet we might as well get it to like us. Plus as much as I like trees, I don’t want to have to climb one every time Cujo sees us.”

“Good point, what have you got?” Tucker and Sam both leaned over the box and began sorting through the contents to locate something the pup might enjoy.

“A rubber t-bone? Really? Why not just spring for a real one? I know you have the cash for it.” Tucker scoffed.

“Vegetarian, remember,” Sam said, snatching the toy away. “Besides I don’t think ghost dogs eat the same stuff as regular dogs.”

“Are you sure about that? Do ghost even eat anything?”

“I know they can eat, or at least I’ve definitely seen a few of them with food, but I don’t know if they have to eat.”

Danny pounded the last stake into the ground and began covering it with dirt. “That’s just one of many things I need to learn if I’m going to make this work. The last thing I need is Cujo getting hungry and deciding to eat Jazz.” Danny wiped the dirt off on his jeans while he spoke.

“Yeah, I don’t think your parents would be too happy about that,” Sam said with a dark chuckle. “Now, which of these do you think says, ‘I want to be your friend, please don’t eat me’.”

“Probably anything with a squeaker.” Danny knelt down and started looking through the box and giving the toys a squeeze. A cloth duck squealed in his hand and he glanced over to see Cujo’s head whip around. “Looks like a winner.”

He held the duck out to Tucker. “Care to give it a try.”

Tucker hesitated and pushed the duck away. “Maybe Sam should try first, this was her idea.”

“Thanks, Tuck,” Sam said dryly. “Just throw me to the wolves.”

“Anytime, Sam.”

Danny and Sam exchanged a flat look before Sam grabbed the duck and stood up.

“Fine then. If I end up dog chow I’m coming back to haunt you first.”

“That’s fair.”

Sam approached Cujo slowly, waving the toy to get his attention. “Hey, boy, do you want to play? I have a nice toy for you.” She gave it a squeeze and the toy squealed, immediately catching Cujo’s attention.

Yipping he ran to the end of the leash and started pulling.

Sam took a few steps closer so she could hold the toy just above the pup.

Cujo stood on his back paws and yipped. He wanted that toy.

“So you do want it? Don’t you? If you promise not to eat me I’ll give it to you.”

Cujo crouched down and wiggled, ready to jump, only instead of jumping he suddenly grew another eight feet and snatched the duck on his way up.

“Holy…!” Sam yelled as the toy was snatched from her hand.

A moment later Cujo shrunk down to puppy size again and was shaking the duck with all his might.

Sam back away slowly. “Alright, Tuck, your turn.”

“You know what, he seems busy. Maybe I’ll try tomorrow.”

“Tucker!”

“Fine.” Tucker reached into his pocket and handed a small box to Danny. “If I die press this button.”

“What is it?”

“A kill switch to my computer. Complete system destruction.”

“…I will guard this with my life.”


	3. Not Cute

Maddie Fenton was busy in the kitchen fixing her husband’s latest ghost hunting gadget when a scream sounded from the floor above. The angry yells of her daughter made her drop her tools immediately and dash from the kitchen as quickly as possible, her hand already reaching for the ecto gun on her hip. She reached the bottom of the stairs at the same time Danny’s new pet fled down the hall.

“Hold it right there ghost mutt.” She shouted, but the pup went intangible and disappeared through the floor before she could do anything further.

A moment later Jazz came charging down the hall looking furious. “Jazz!” Maddie yelled, worry in her voice. “Did that ghost mongrel hurt you?” She knew taking that thing in was a bad idea.

“What? No, it’s worse than that.”

Worse? Maddie began to imagine all sort of horrible things. The worst of which was that Jazz had found Danny mauled to pieces.

“Calm down, Jazz, tell me everything.”

“Look what that mutt did.” Jazz held up her hand.

Maddie had been expecting to see an injury, but instead, she saw a toy. Bearbert Einstein, Jazz’s childhood stuffed bear, was torn to bits, stuffing falling from his cloth belly and his head held on by mere threads. This was not what Maddie had expected.

“We…we can sew him back together, sweetie. He’ll be good as new in no time.”

“That’s not the point. We have all those dog toys Sam brought over and he still insists on going after Bearbert.”

“Well, …we can make your room ghost proof. That way he can’t get in.”

Jazz nodded as she held Bearbert close. “Mom?”

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Is it possible to make a really small specter deflector?”

“W-well yes, but why…?”

“For Bearbert. He’s not always in my room and I don’t want him getting destroyed every time I take him somewhere else.”

This was not at all where she had thought her day would go. “Yes, sweetie, of course.”

“Thank you mom, thank you so much.” Jazz hurried to give Maddie a big hug before going back upstairs.

Maddie returned to the kitchen and suddenly realized she still had the ecto-gun in her hand. Sighing she put it back in the holster. She kept expecting the ghost dog to do something evil but each time it just acted like a dog. Well, mostly like a dog, it still went intangible and occasionally ran across the ceiling instead of the floor.

Maddie sat down and picked up her tool again. From the corner of her eye, a green light caught her attention. Turning she saw the glowing pup staring at her from around the corner. The moment she locked eyes with it the ghost spread its front paws wide and lowered its head while wiggling its butt high in the air, tail wagging. It yipped happily.

Maddie’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, ghost, but I’m on to you.”

The pup tilted its head and then rolled onto its back, tongue lolling out to the side.

“Act cute all you want. I’m not falling for it.”

The pup responded by wiggling his paws in the air.


	4. Help From an Enemy

Danny’s parent had gone out for the evening, which meant he was free to use the lab undisturbed.Cujo was circling his feet while dragging the newly made Fenton Leash, which was just the line from the Fenton Ghost Fisher with a spring clasp tied at one end and a cloth handle tied to the other. Danny was busy checking his equipment and Jazz was nearby looking disapproving.

“I’m just saying I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“You always think my ideas are bad,” Danny pointed out.

“Not always, just most of them.”

“Well, this one might be bad, but I don’t have a lot of options.”

“You could just ask Frostbite or even Clockwork. I’m sure they both know enough about ghosts, to answer your questions, you know, seeing as they are ghosts.”

“Yes, but I need to know about ghost animals and training them. Skulker is my best bet. That or Vlad, but between the two of them I like my chances with Skulker better.”

“…if you’re sure.”

“Come on Jazz, I’ve beaten Skulker plenty of times. He’s not even a threat anymore.”

“But this time you’re not looking for a fight. You’ll have to be diplomatic, and if you make him too angry he might not even listen.”

“Ok, true, but I have a plan.”

“You do?” Jazz sounded genuinely surprised. “Wait, your plan isn’t to just overpower him so he doesn’t want to fight, is it? Because I’m pretty sure that would make him angry enough to not want to help.”

“Also true, but if I can fight him to a draw he might be less angry and still willing to listen. At least that’s how it’s work before.”

“I still think it’s a bad idea.”

“And I agree, but it has to be done.”

“Fine, just be back before nine. Mom and Dad will be home by then and I only have so many unused excuses.”

“I promise to do my best to be back by nine.” Danny grabbed the end of the leash as Cujo ran by. “Come on, boy. Let’s go for a walk.”

At the word, ‘walk’ Cujo yipped and started jumping up and down and pulling towards the ghost portal. Jazz pressed her thumb to the Fenton Genetic Lock and the portal doors swung open with a hiss, revealing the swirling green ecto-energy inside. Danny barely had time to wave goodbye before Cujo sprang into the portal, dragging Danny with him. Even when small he was still strong.

Once on the other side, Danny had to forcefully haul on the leash to get Cujo to change direction.

“We’re going this way.”

At first, Cujo was willing to listen but every now and then he’d catch a scent and Danny had to fight to get him back on track. By the time they actually got to Skulker’s layer he was already exhausted.

“I really hope he’s not in a fighting mood today.”

Cujo’s ears suddenly perked up and he turned around, growling at something behind them. Danny’s previous hopes were immediately dashed when a gleefully deep voice spoke.

“Greetings, ghost child, I see you have come to me today. This will make hunting you much easier.”

Danny turned to find Skulker floating several feet above and behind him, a large cannon already trained on his location. Cujo’s fur stood on end and as his growl deepened his size grew until he was nearly eye to eye with Skulker. Skulker couldn’t hide his surprise and actually dropped his weapon slightly.

“I…see you got a dog.”

“Actually, that’s why I’m here.”

Skulker’s surprise turned to anger. “I see. You wish to sick this beast on me as revenge for all the times I hunted you. Very well, bring it on. I can hang his pelt beside yours.”

“No! That’s not…I wanted to ask you about training.”

Again Skulker looked shocked, but also a bit flattered, though he quickly tried to hide it with arrogance. “Of course you would come to me. As the ghost zone’s greatest hunter I am an expert on all its beasts…So you really aren’t here to fight?”

“Sorry, not this time.”

“Not even a little, it has been awhile.”

Danny hurried to come up with an excuse not to fight. “True, but two on one wouldn’t be very sporting. If I fought you then Cujo would try and jump in. It’d be better for us to fight one on one, you know, like men.” Danny tried to puff out his chest but his small frame made it hard to tell.

Skulker nodded solemnly. “That is true, I admire your spirit of fair play. We shall fight on another day then. One on one, as it should be.”

Danny had to suppress a sigh of relief. He was honestly surprised that worked.

“Come, ghost child. I shall show you what I know of training beasts.”

Skulker flew towards his layer and Danny followed.

“Come on Cujo.”

“You named the beast Cujo?”

“Uh…yes.”

“…I like it.”


	5. How to Train Your Ghost

The inside of Skulker’s layer was a cross between an armory and a zoo with parts that reminded Danny of his parent’s lab. As he eyed a table full of wires and welded metal a thought occurred to him.

“Wait, do you may all your own weapons?”

“Actually yes,” Skulker said proudly. “Well, most of them anyway. There are a few special components I have to get elsewhere but the basic equipment and a few custom pieces I make myself.”

“I had no idea. That’s actually really impressive.”

“Don’t think you can flatter me into forgetting about hunting you,” Skulker warned.

“Right, so is there something here that will help with training?”

“Of course,” Skulker said while digging through a box in the corner. “I use this device when training all my beasts.”

Whatever he was looking for wasn’t in the box so he shoved it aside to open a closet and dig through there instead. “Ah ha!” Skulker held up a large collar with a heavy mechanical box on one side.

Cujo growled. He had refused to return to puppy form since he had laid eyes on Skulker.

“And what is that for?” Danny asked.

“It’s an obedience collar.” Skulker held up a small box with a button. “You hold onto the button and the beast wears the collar. When they don’t obey you press the button and…” Skulker pushed the button and the mechanical box practically jumped off the collar as it flashed with electricity.

Both Cujo and Danny flinched.

“See,” Skulker said proudly. “After a few shocks, they’ll obey just from seeing the button.”

“Uh, thanks, but do you have anything that won’t make my dog hate me with a violent passion?”

Skulker looked confused and then annoyed. “Well, sure, if you want to do it the hard way.” Skulker hit the wall and a tiny metal cylinder fell off a shelf into his hand. He tossed it to Danny. “There, a ghost dog whistle. The hardest part of training is getting the beast to pay attention. Blow this and their focus will be on you. Just be warned it’ll also attract the attention of any other ghost animals in the area.”

“Thanks.” Danny rolled the delicate silver whistle in his fingers. Like most things from the ghost zone, it glowed with a green light. “Anything else I need to know.”

Skulker shrugged. “It’s a dog, make sure he’s paying attention and speak with a confident and commanding voice. Keep all commands simple and short. Really you can learn this from any dog training book.”

“So the fact that he’s a ghost doesn’t actually affect how he’s trained.”

“Not really. It just means there will be greater consequences when he doesn’t listen.”

“Right. Thanks.”

“Now, on to other matters. How’s Thursday for you.”

“Uh, Thursday?”

“For our fight.”

“Oh, uh actually Thursdays a school night. I can do Saturday.”

“Very well, Saturday it is. Just remember ghost child…”Skulker leaned menacingly forward, reminding Danny of just how large he actually was. “If you don’t find me, I’ll find you.”


	6. Good Dog

Danny arrived home from school exhausted. The box ghost had tried to terrorize the Casper High students with juice boxes at lunch and before Danny could go ghost the lunch Lady showed up and tried to strangle the box ghost for crossing into lunch related haunting. That was her shtick and he had no right to impose.

Danny had sucked them both into the Fenton Thermos and then attempted to choke down what was left of his lunch before the bell rang, which would have been easier if he had some juice to wash it down.

His day only got worse when Mr. Lancer decided to have three pop quizzes in a row. Danny was sure he failed two of them and didn’t exactly get high marks on the last one either. His only comfort was that the day was over and he could return home to the unconditional love of his canine companion.

“Cujo! I’m back, where are you boy!” Danny waited with open arms for the little green pup to come running out of a wall or across the ceiling, but instead, he was only met with silence. Danny sighed and dropped his arms. “So much for man’s best friend.”

From the kitchen, he heard his mother’s voice. “Danny, sweetie? Is that you?”

At least someone cared. “Yeah, mom, I home.” Danny entered the kitchen and leaned in to give Maddie a quick peck on the cheek. “Have you seen Cujo? He usually comes running when I get back.”

Maddie’s lips tighten for a moment. She still wasn’t happy about the dog, but she also hadn’t found a good reason to get rid of him. “He’s in the lab with your father.”

Danny felt his stomach sink. “The lab!” He croaked, panic rising in his voice. “Why’s he in the lab.”

“Calm down sweetie,” Maddie tried to sound reassuring. “Your dad wanted to train him to attack ghosts on sight, or something,” she said sourly.

Danny sighed in relief. “Oh, oh good. Ok, I’ll go down to the lab then.”

“Tell you dad dinner is at six.”

“Ok, mom.” Danny made his way down the stairs. He could hear his father’s voice from around the corner.

“Alright boy, you see this. What do we do with this?”

As Danny reached the bottom of the stairs he heard small growls and barks. He found his father on his knees shaking a green ghost doll at Cujo.

“Good boy. And when we see this…?” Jack switched the ghost doll with a Maddie doll and waved it at the pup. Cujo immediately stopped growling and wagged his tail happily. “Good boy.”

“Hey, Dad,” Danny said, surprised that his dad was getting along so well with any ghost.

“Hey, Danny, check this out.” Jack waved the ghost doll at Cujo who immediately started growling and then switched it to the Maddie doll, at which Cujo happily wagged his tail and barked. “See, he already learned that humans are good and ghosts are bad. I’m awesome at training ghost dogs.”

Danny grinned, “That’s great. By the way, Mom says dinner is at six.”

“Thanks, Danny. I’ll be right up anyway.” Jack waved the ghost doll at Cujo again and the pup excitedly barked and snarled at it. “Good dog, now attack!” Jack threw the toy into the air, but instead of Cujo jumping to snatch it the pup grew to fill half the room and his now enormous maw clamped hard on the doll before shaking it furiously.

Both Danny and Jack were frozen. Danny hadn’t told either of his parents that Cujo had a much larger form and now that he saw the shock on his father’s face he was certain they would make him send the dog back to the ghost zone.

“Danny,” Jack began seriously.

“Y-yeah, dad?”

Jack’s face split into a wide, excited grin as he pumped both fists into the air. “This dog’s going to be great at ghost hunting!”


	7. The Couch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Mayhem here, I just wanted to say a quick thank you for all the comments and kudos and to those who have bookmarked my story. I've written several chapters ahead of what I've published so far, and have more stories still planned so rest assured there is plenty more to come.

* * *

 

In the short time, Cujo had been part of the family the glowing green pup had managed to win over nearly every member. Jazz had begrudgingly forgiven him for decapitating Bearbert, but only after she had made sure it wouldn’t happen again. Maddie was still convinced the spectral hound would try and eat them the moment they dropped their guard, but even she was starting to wonder if the nature of the ghost dog was actually more dog than ghost. Jack, to Danny’s surprise, had quickly grown attached to the pup and was increasingly spoiling him.

“Jack!” Maddie fumed. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Jack was sitting on the couch with Cujo on his lap, and a bag a dog treats in his hand. “It’s just one cookie, it’s not like it’ll spoil his dinner.”

Cujo seemed to agree as he put a paw on Jack’s stomach in an attempt to get closer to the treats.

“I mean, why is the dog on the couch?”

“Ah, common Maddie, he’s not hurting anyone.”

Cujo wagged his tail and yipped, still focused on the treats.

“I don’t want him thinking he can jump on the furniture as he please, it’s bad enough he leaves muddy paw prints all over the ceiling.” Maddie pointed upwards to the curving dotted lines above their heads. Some of the dots were bigger than others and a few trailed down the walls. “You can give him treats, but on the floor.”

Cujo wiggly his but and gave a little hop in an attempt to reach the treats but they were still too far. He barked again, annoyed that the promised treat had yet to be given.

“He’s not even on the couch, he’s on my lap. Everything is perfectly fine.”

Maddie drew a sharp breath but before she could continue Cujo went from the size of a basketball to the size of a rhino. He snatched the bag of treats and gulped the whole thing down happily.

Jack gave a wearing sideways glance at Maddie, who seemed to be in shock. “S-see, everything perfectly fine.” He tried to sound reassuring but it was hard when he had a couple of hundred pounds of ghost dog crushing his thigh.

Before either of them could speak next, a low creak came from the couch followed quickly by the sound of wood splitting. The couch seat dropped a full eight inches with Jack and Cujo still on it. The legs had snapped.

The look in Maddie’s eyes as she fixed her gaze on her husband and dog cause both of them to shrink, in Cujo’s case he returned to puppy size and tucked his ears and tail as far down as they would go.

When she spoke it was in a low and far too controlled tone. “Both of you, get off the couch now.”

…

Danny was surprised to find the living room couch sitting on the curb when he returned from school. Its legs had snapped and there seemed to be an odd indentation in the middle. He was further confused to find his father sitting on the living room floor instead of the chair to his right.

“Uh, hi, dad. What...what are you doing.”

Jack looked up, his eyes were strangely dark. “Danny…” he began.

“Yeah, dad?”

“Under no circumstance, is the dog allowed on the furniture.”

“Ok, but...why are you on the floor.”

“I also, am no longer allowed on the furniture.”


	8. A Walk in the park

Danny was used to hiding. He hid his secret identity, he hid his failing math grades, he hid from bullies at school and he hid from his parents when he was in his ghost form. Today he was hiding from Dash, one of the bullies who often made his life miserable at school. To change it up a bit Danny wasn’t at school this time but at the park. Cujo had a lot of...repressed energy and was getting a bit rambunctious at home. Jazz, who had been trying to study, grabbed the leash, the dog and Danny and threw all of them out of the house with an order not to come back until Cujo was too tired to bother anyone. That had been an hour ago.

Danny had been attempting to tire Cujo out when he spotted Dash throwing a football with some friends. Now he was covering the pup’s mouth and hiding behind a tree in hopes no one had spotted him yet. So far so good, now he just needed a means of sneaking away without being seen. He considered turning invisible, but there were too many other park goers to guarantee he wouldn’t be seen.

“Why are there so many people. It’s not even nice out,” Danny grumbled, glancing up at the cloudy sky. Maybe it would rain and Dash and his posse would go home.

Cujo was not happy about being held and was squirming in Danny’s arms.

“Please, hold still. I just need a moment…” Danny pleaded in a hushed whisper.

Cujo whined and pushed at Danny’s hands with his paws.

Danny considered just keeping his head down and running in the opposite direction as at a full sprint, but before he could Cujo suddenly kicked out and got Danny in the stomach. Danny grunted and his grip on the pup loosened enough for Cujo to get free. Cujo landed lightly on the ground and looked around. His attention was immediately grabbed by the first fast moving object he laid eyes on. Unfortunately for Danny it happened to be Dash’s football.

Danny felt his arm nearly wrench out of its socket as Cujo started barking and charged after the spinning ball.

“No no no no no!” Danny yelled trying to regain his footing and pull Cujo back. He barely managed to brace his feet against a passing rock. Cujo gagged slightly as the leash suddenly tightened around his neck, but he recovered quickly and continued to bark at the ball.

The damage was done. The comotion had attracted the attention of about half the park, included the very person Danny had been trying to avoid.

“Fenturd!” Dash accused, “What are you doing here?” His eyes then fell to the barking green dog at the end of the leash Danny was gripping. “Ugh, and what’s wrong with your dog?”

“My dog, is perfectly fine,” Danny insisted, straining to keep Cujo in one place as he rose to his feet.

“Your dog is green! What kind of pet owner lets their dog get so sick it turns green?”

“He happens to be a ghost. Ghost dogs are supposed to be green.” Danny retorted.

Dash looked confused. Danny watched as his eyes narrowed and then looked closer at the barking dog, taking notice of the slight glow around it’s fur and eyes.

“A ghost?”

Danny wrapped the leash tighter around his left wrist and used his other hand to fish around his pocket for the whistle Skulker had lent him. Meanwhile Dash seemed to be recovering from his confusion.

“Hold on, you’re not nearly cool enough to have a ghost for a pet.”

“What!” Danny had been expecting to be made fun of or even to have Dash be afraid of his new pet, which would have made everything immediately better. He had not expected to be called out on what he was and wasn’t allowed to do based on the social hierarchy of high school. “My parents are literally ghost hunters, I’m the only one who can have a ghost as a pet.”

Dash’s hands tightened into fists, but his eyes darted back and forth between the various witnesses. Danny was pleased there was at least one up side to running into Dash outside of school and in a public place.

Dash finally decided it wasn’t worth the trouble and turned away. “Forget it. You’ve made this whole place lame, I’m out.”

Danny was just fine with that. Finally he found the whistle and gave it a short puff. He didn’t hear anything but Cujo’s head snapped around. Not seeing the source of the noise Cujo began to turn away so Danny blew it again. This time Cujo’s eyes focused on him.

Danny fished around for a treat in his other pocket and tossed it to Cujo who happily snatched it up, all memory of the ball gone.

“Good boy.” Danny praised.

Cujo sniffed the ground for more treats and barked when he didn’t find any.

Danny knelt to tossle the pup’s ears. “Maybe next time we’ll show Dash your other form. I bet he’ll stop picking on me if he thinks you might eat him.” Danny imagine Dash begging for mercy, but then imagined how his parents would react. “Then again we don’t need to give mom an excuse to get rid of you.”

Cujo sniffed Danny’s hand and barked when he found it was empty.

Danny sighed and reach for his pocket. “Fine, but only one more.”


	9. Jazz Hound

The library was one of the few place Jazz could get some peace and quiet. Ever since Danny had somehow convinced their parents to go against every ghost hunting instinct they had the house had become a den of noise and ruckus. Before there had only been the occasional explosion from the lab or the sudden yells of excitement when a ghost was spotted, but it had otherwise been a tolerable place to study. Now there was always noise. Cujo was constantly chewing on one squeaky toy or another, barking at neighbors, other dogs, and other ghosts and sometimes just running up and down the walls for no apparent reason. It was better now that Danny was walking him every day, but Jazz still needed to go to the library if she wanted any hope of being able to study in peace.

Today she had finished her paper early and was looking forward to watching tv. Heck, she was in a good mood, maybe she’d actually play with Danny’s mutt. The pup was cute when it wasn’t destroying her things.

Jazz opened the front door and called out, “I’m home.” For a moment only silence greeted her.

“Hey Jazz, welcome back.”

Jazz looked around, trying to spot the source of her brother’s disembodied voice.

“Up here.”

Jazz tilted her eyes up and spotted Danny, hair white and eyes green, holding a sponge and a bucket, and floating near the ceiling of the two-story entry hall. “Danny!” she said in shock and glanced out the front door before closing it hurriedly. “What if someone saw you.”

“Well, mom and dad aren’t home, and I can always do this.” Danny turned invisible for a moment before reappearing. “So long as I do that as soon as the door opens it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Jazz wasn’t convinced, but she also didn’t feel like arguing. “Well, alright then.” Jazz watch for a moment while Danny returned to scrubbing muddy paw prints off the walls and ceiling. “You should probably train him not to do that.”

“I’m working on it.” Danny insisted, which would have been more convincing if Cujo didn’t come running through the wall near his head and track fresh paw prints over the area he had just scrubbed clean. Danny sighed heavily.

“Yeah, good luck with that.”

Danny ignored her and scrubbed harder.

Jazz made her way up the stairs and down the hall. She barely had her hand on the door handle when the sound of incessant squeaky started around the corner and got steadily louder. She hurried into her room and closed the door just as Cujo came bounding down the hall with the floppy duck. A moment later the squeaky stopped and was replaced by sad whimpers and scratching on her door. Cujo couldn’t actually come in thanks to the ghost shield technology her parents had installed in the four corners of the room, but he could still make plenty of noise outside it.

“No, you can’t come in here. Every time you do something gets destroyed.”

On hearing her voice Cujo began barking.

“I’ll play with you after I put my stuff away.”

Cujo quieted for a moment, and Jazz wondered if he had understood.

He didn’t and soon began howling in the saddest and loneliest way he possibly could.

Sighing Jazz pulled the last of her things from her backpack and headed for the door. The moment she turned the handle Cujo stopped crying and grabbed his toy, growling and squeaking it playfully. He tried to run into her room but Jazz blocked him with her leg.

“Nuh uh uh, This is not a play area. We play downstairs.”

Cujo tilted his head and stared at her blankly before shaking his toy again.

Jazz carefully closed her door and started down the hall for the stairs. “Come on Cujo. Let’s go play.”

Cujo gave a muffled bark through the fabric of his toy and followed excitedly. He raced passed Jazz on the stairs, making her stumbled slightly.

“Hey, careful.”

Cujo gave no indication he was listening and instead started doing laps around the living room.

“Alright Cujo, Give me the toy.” Jazz said holding out her hand for the duck.

Cujo pulled away, growling playfully.

“Come on, give me the toy.” Jazz tried to grab it but Cujo hopped back, his tail wagging happily as he ferociously squeaked the toy. “How am I supposed to play if you don’t give me the toy,” Jazz said with frustration.

“He is playing.” Danny laughed from the ceiling.

“How is this playing?”

“Try chasing him around.”

Jazz took a few steps towards Cujo who excitedly ran a few steps away. He stopped when she didn’t walk further and waited. When she took a few more hurried steps he darted around her and ran into the kitchen. A moment later he peaked out his head to see if she was following.

“Wait so if he wants to play chase why does he have the toy?”

“He’s a dog, Jazz, I don’t think he worries about that sort of thing.”

Jazz spent the next twenty minutes chasing Cujo around the kitchen and living room. She never did manage to get the toy but he seemed happy all the same. Tired from all the running she sunk into the armchair next to where their old couch used to be. About the same time, Danny floated down from the ceiling. As his feet touched the ground a white light radiated out from his center, turning his hair black and his eyes blue.

“Tired already?”

“That dog has a lot of energy."

“Well, he is a puppy, sort of.”

“Does he ever get tired?”

Danny held up his hand and rotated it back of forth. “Kinda.”

Cujo was currently attempting to deprive the duck of its beak.

“How many toys did Sam bring over?”

“A lot.”

“And how many have survived.”

“‘bout half.”

Jazz stood up and rested her hand on Danny’s shoulder. “In that case, little brother, I suggest you save your allowance or learn to sew.”

Danny was confused for only a moment, and then the sound of fabric tearing carried across the room.

“I see your point.”


	10. Just a Nap

Maddie and Jack, being mature and responsible adults, had spent many years learning the art of time management. This allowed them to schedule each day for the optimal amount of sleep, food, inventing, ghost hunting, checking on the kids and doing household chores. But, every now and then they came up with an idea for a game-changing piece of ghost hunting machinery. At such times they couldn’t help but work night and day until the idea had become reality. At such times things like chores, hygiene, and nutrition were often forgotten. Even sleep was far from their minds.

Jack was the first to succumb to the multiple all-nighters. He started with a few slow blinks, his eyes staying closed just a bit longer each time. His head would nod and his hands slowly came to rest on the table, the tools slipping from his grip. Yawning he leaned heavily against the nearest wall.

“Maddie,” he mumbled, “wake me in an hour. I just need to rest my eyes for a bit.” Sliding down the wall he began to snore.

Maddie put down her tools and pulled a blanket from under the cabinets. She threw it over Jack’s shoulders and then stared for a few moments, her own eyes dark from lack of sleep. It wouldn’t hurt to rest for just a bit. Nestling against her husband she rearranged the blanket so it covered both of them and let herself drift off. They’d be more productive once they had gotten some shut-eye.

…

A bright yellow tennis ball came bouncing down the basement stairs. Shortly after Cujo came bounding after it. Trapping it between his paws he prepared to gnaw on the rubber and felt when something snorted and rumbled from the far end of the lab. Cujo’s ears perked up and he abandoned the ball to investigate this strange noise.

The first clue he found was a boot sticking out from around one of the tables. He gave it a sniff before circling around. He found two of the humans who lived in his house. They seemed to have wrapped themselves in a thick sheet and were proceeding to make the strangest noises he had ever heard. Cujo yipped at them but got no reaction. Making his way over their splayed legs he managed to find a hand and give it a lick. He only did that once since it tasted like rubber and not the good kind of rubber his toys were made of.

There was still no reaction.

Part of the blanket had pooled onto the floor. It felt soft under his paws, especially compared to the cold of the lab floor. Cujo put all four paws on the fabric and began turning in a circle. Once he found the best position he settled down and leaned into the sleeping human. It was warm.

…

Maddie's eyes slowly fluttered open. She felt like some of her energy had returned and briefly wondered whether it had been only a few minutes or a few hours. She shifted her arm to check her watch but found there was something heavy preventing her from moving it. Her eyes shot open and she tilted her head to get a better look. Green fur entered her field of vision and she felt her chest tighten. She tried to move her other arm but found it was pinned between her and her husband. The blanket had also wound tightly around her making it difficult to move. Maddie tried to weigh her options. If she moved quickly enough maybe she could get free and grab her ecto-gun before the ghost beast attacked, but moving so suddenly might also increase the aggression of the specter and even if she had time to get free Jack was still asleep. She’d have to wake him first without alerting the ghost.

As these thoughts rushed through her head the ghost pup shifted, rising slightly to its feet.

Maddie stiffened she still didn’t have a good plan.

Cujo adjusted himself and settled back down with a yawn, leaning even closer into Maddie’s side.

Maddie was frozen. A minute passed, then another. The pup’s ears twitched but otherwise, by all accounts, he seemed to be sleeping just as deeply as Jack.

Maddie felt her panic begin to ease. This specter, this collection of postcanine consciousness, wasn’t actually threatening her or her husband. It was...just taking a nap.

Maddie’s fear was slowly replaced by confusion. Ghosts didn’t nap. They didn’t need sleep. So, why would one of them decide to sleep next to her?

After observing the ghost dog she had determined its intelligence was no more than a living dog’s, which meant it was incapable of scheming or laying traps. There was always a chance this was all an act but the cameras she had placed around the house showed that the pup acted that way all the time, even when there was no one else around. If it wasn’t capable of scheming then it could only act on instinct and desire and so far all its desires included playing and begging for treats. Maybe...just...maybe...it really was just ...a dog.


	11. Taking a Chance

Jack, Danny, and Jazz were all eating their breakfast in complete silence. Jack was seated on the floor in the corner and was attempting to shovel cereal in his mouth without looking but had already missed his target several times, Danny’s spoon was suspended part way to his lips and otherwise forgotten, and Jazz was the only one who successfully continued to eat, although, even her attention was focused on a singular point in the room.

Maddie was busy frying up eggs in the skillet and was paying no mind at all to the small pup that had pressed himself into her calf, his nose pointed toward her knee and his eyes focused on the skillet. The rest of the family had expected her to push him away or shoo him off the moment he had approached. Now they waited in silence, wondering what had happened to make Maddie suddenly not mind the presence of the glowing green dog.

They each held their breath when Maddie suddenly glanced down, expecting some sort of disapproving sniff or aggressive glare. Cujo’s ear perked up as soon as she looked at him and his tail began wagging. He gave a sad whimper and flattened his ears again, begging for a treat with his eyes.

Maddie sighed and flicked a bit of egg from the pan to the floor. Cujo inhaled it before it touched the ground and immediately pressed himself against her leg again to beg for more.

Jack had enough and stood to bang his fists on the table, making everyone jump. “That’s it. Who are you and what have you done with my beautiful wife?”

Maddie clicked her teeth in annoyance. “What are you talking about, Jack?”

“My wife has made it very clear she doesn’t like ghosts, not even this one. If you were really my wife you would have chased Cujo away, or told him off, and you most certainly would not have given him any food.”

Maddie whirled on Jack in a huff, the spatula flicking pointedly in his direction. “First of all, I didn’t give him anything.” She folded her arms stubbornly. “A piece of the egg just happen to fall out of the pan while I was turning them over. Secondly, the rest of you have been so insistent that I give this ghost a chance that I thought I’d humor you, but if you’re going to make accusations when I do then I don’t see the point in trying.”

Jazz and Danny exchanged a glance and then eyed the doors to calculate their chances of escaping without notice. They weren’t good.

Jack fumbled his words, “Oh, well I just...you seemed so against him before.”

Maddie waited for him to finish digging for an excuse.

“Well, I’m glad you're giving him a chance. He’s actually a very good dog. And I’m sorry for thinking you might have been possessed or replaced with some lesser ectoplasmic filth.”

“Jack,” Maddie said flatly, “both our suits include specter deflectors. Neither of us can get possessed.”

Jack looked down at his gut. He couldn’t really see his belt but he knew it was there. “There’s a specter deflector in this thing?”

“Yes, Jack. If you read the notes I left, you’d know that.”

Jack could see he wasn’t getting out of this one easily so he tried the next best thing. A Distraction. “We haven’t had a date night in ages. How about we go to that place you were talking about the other day. The French one?”

“The one I told you about two months ago?”

The ship was sinking fast but Jack was in too deep to back out now. “Uh, yes? How about I call and get us a reservation. Just you and me. The kids can stay home and watch movies or something.”

“It’s a school night.”

“Homework, I meant homework. The kids can stay home and do homework...and chores.”

“Hey!” Danny tried to protest but either they didn’t notice or had chosen to ignore him.

“Will you wear a suit? A real suit, with a jacket a tie?”

“Yes?” Jack was already regretting this path but it would be far worse if he tried to backtrack now.

Maddie finally grinned warmly and gave Jack a loving peck on the cheek. “That sounds wonderful. I can’t wait. Oh, I better start getting ready.” Maddie turned off the stove and practically skipped from the room and up the stairs.

Danny glanced at the clock. It read 7:15 am. “How long does it take to get ready for a date?”

Jazz gave him an understanding pat on the arm. “You’ll understand when you get a girlfriend.”


	12. Valerie

Consistent and regular training was paying off. Danny hardly needed the whistle anymore to get Cujo’s attention but he still carried it in his pocket just in case. Today they were going over the training in the park. Danny wanted to make sure Cujo still listened to him even when surrounded by constant distractions. With all the joggers, squirrels, screaming kids and various toys being thrown about it was the perfect place to work on not getting distracted.

Danny held a treat in one hand and had the leash firmly wrapped around the wrist of his other hand. He made sure Cujo’s eyes were on him before giving the first command.

“Sit,” Danny said firmly making a short motion backward over Cujo’s head.

Cujo plopped his butt to the grass and wagged his tail. Eyes focused on the treat.

“Good boy. Now...down.” This time Danny brought his hand all the way to the grass.

Cujos followed the motion until he was completely flat.

“Good boy.” Praise was important. “Roll over.” This time he twisted his hand so Cujo had to turn his head sideways and then up and eventually his body followed into a roll.

“Good boy,” Danny said again, this time forfeiting the treat.

Cujo happily chomped it down and then looked up expectantly for more.

So far this was working pretty well. They were probably ready to try some...

“Danny!”

Danny’s stomach turned to stone. He knew that voice. They had actually been getting along lately, but now…

“What are you doing with that...that monster!?”

Danny picked Cujo up. He didn’t know why but he was certain it would be easier to keep the situation from escalating if he was holding the dog.

“H-hi Valerie.”

“Answer me, Fenton!”

She was really mad. Danny could see her face turning red and even the veins in her eyes were starting to pop. If he didn’t answer carefully any chance they had of remaining on friendly terms would be gone for good.

“Y-you remember how my parents are ghost hunters?”

Valerie opened her mouth but then paused. She must have forgotten because Danny could see the wheels turning as she slowly recalled that particular bit of knowledge.

“Well,” Danny continued, “it’s hard to chase after ghosts when they go intangible and pass through walls and stuff so my parents thought it would be a good idea to see if we could use a ghost to catch other ghosts.”

Danny left out the part about all of that being his idea and the part about his parents being against the whole idea before he begged them to give it a chance.

“But why do  **you** have the dog?” Valerie asked suspiciously.

Her face was a little less red now, but she didn’t seem completely convinced.

“Well...I always wanted a dog, but because of my parents' work, I’ve never been able to have one. But since this is a ghost dog they’re ok with it. I’ve even been helping to train him.”

“But, isn’t that dangerous?” Her anger seemed to have faded into genuine concern. “Danny, I’m pretty sure that’s the same dog that ruined my life.” Her eyes flashed angrily for a moment but that emotion was again replaced by worry. “What if...I’m just worried the same might happen to you.”

Danny felt like a jerk for lying to her, and for being unable to stop all the damage to her father’s workplace and their home back when Cujo was still running wild. He couldn’t change the past, and he wouldn’t blame Valerie if she couldn’t ever forgive Cujo, but he was also touched that she was more worried about him than angry at the ghost dog in his arms.

“I’m really, really sorry that happened to you, Valerie. And, thank you, for worrying about me, but I’ll be fine. My parents have all sorts of equipment for dealing with ghosts, including stuff to make sure this one doesn’t wreck our home or anyone else's.”

Valerie still looked worried but she nodded slowly. “Just don’t let your guard down.” Her eyes flashed as she glared at Cujo. “You can never really trust a ghost.”

Danny knew that look. It was the look Valerie wore while zooming around on a glider in a red battle suit fully armed with various blasters and other equipment specifically meant for destroying ghosts, usually him. Was she going to go after Cujo when he wasn’t looking? He had to make sure.

“Valerie…”

“Yeah?” Her eyes softened once she was no longer looking at the ghost dog.

“My family has really gotten attached to this dog.”

Valerie looked confused so Danny continued.

“I know you have every reason to hate ghosts, especially this one, but we’ve been training him to not cause any more trouble, and even to prevent other ghosts from causing trouble. But more than just being useful he’s become a part of my family. I’m not asking you to like him, but maybe you can try not to hate him so much?”

Valerie was a bit taken aback. Was her hate for ghosts so obvious that it was making regular humans uncomfortable? It wasn’t like she wasn’t justified in feeling that way, but Danny had always been nice, especially after her family went through such a rough time. She didn’t want to put a rift between them, not when so few classmates actually cared about her anymore.

“I...I can’t promise to stop hating ghosts, especially not that one, but...I’ll try not to make a big deal out of it around you.”

This was probably the best Danny was going to get. If he was lucky, maybe she wouldn’t try and shoot his dog unless the pup actually tried to attack her.

“Thanks, Valerie,” Danny said sincerely. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t give you any more reason to dislike him.”


	13. Child's Play

Today was going to be one of those days. Danny was supposed to be walking Cujo but his breath had suddenly turned cold and shortly after he heard screaming near the park.

“Great,” Danny sighed glancing down at Cujo. “What am I supposed to do with you?” He couldn’t take Cujo with him to fight other ghosts, someone would see him and start wondering why the Fenton’s green pet was hanging around Phantom.

Glancing around Danny found a bush and, picking Cujo up, hid him under the leaves and tied his leash to the base of the plant. “Stay,” Danny said firmly. Cujo sat down so he assumed the pup understood the command.

Danny then checked his surroundings to make sure no one was watching. Luckily anyone nearby was too busy running away.

A white burst of light radiated out from his center and soon he was wearing a black hazmat suit with white gloves and boots. His hair faded to white and his eyes turned green.

Cujo barked at him and wagged his tail.

“Sorry, boy you have to stay here.”

Cujo cocked his head sideways as Danny flew in the direction of the chaos. Not wanting to be left behind the dog pulled at the leash.

…

Some monster with a Skeletal horse’s body and claws instead of hooves was running rampant, snapping at people’s heads with fanged teeth and occasional spitting flames at them. So far it didn’t look like anyone had gotten more than a light burn, but that didn’t mean Danny didn’t need to step in.

Danny’s hands glowed with green energy which proceeded to burst outward towards the horse, striking its side and sending it tumbling a good twenty feet. Danny pulled out the Fenton thermos, but before he could use it the horse turned into a small orb of light and darted off.

Danny was confused until a very young voice cut in.

“Aw, you defeated my marble monster.”

Turning Danny spotted the real source of the chaos, Youngblood. The kid was actually wearing normal clothes for once, pants, t-shirt, sneakers, and he was holding a small glowing sphere in his hand.

“Bet you can’t beat this one though,” the kid laughed, striking an exaggerated pose before dramatically throwing the marble. This time the creature that came out was a large skeletal tiger with three tails.

“I’m guessing your marble monster is actually that bird buddy of yours.”

This time the Tiger spoke, sounding especially British and as though he’d rather be doing anything else. “Indeed, you caught on rather quick.”

“Marble monsters don’t talk,” Youngblood complained. “Now attack.”

The Tiger leaped, claws extended to look more like daggers as Danny dodge and hit him with another blast. The tiger rolled and got to its feet again.

“Can you fill me in, what exactly are Marble Monsters?” Danny asked, hoping if he distracted Youngblood long enough he’d get a chance to use the thermos.

“What! You haven’t heard of Marble Monsters?” Youngblood exclaimed with great disbelief. “It’s only the coolest tv show every. These kids battle using marbles which contain ancient and powerful monsters and each time they win a fight they get to keep one of their opponent's monsters. Their goal is to collect as many as possible and become the Marble King! It has tournaments and bad guys and is the greatest show ever!”

While Youngblood was gushing over the show Danny blasted the tiger again, turning it back into a marble.

“Hey, not fair.” Youngblood accused. “You’re not even playing right.”

As Youngblood raised his arm to throw another marble Danny fired a smaller blast, knocking it from his hand. Youngblood went chasing after it and Danny grabbed his thermos once more, but before he could use it another interruption startled him, this time a bark.

“Oh, no,” Danny moaned, turning to see Cujo happily running towards him, the bush dragging behind and leaving a trail of leaves and dirt where it had been pulled up by the roots. “Cujo, sit!” Danny said firmly.

Cujo immediately dug in his heels and slid to a stop, his butt firmly on the ground.

“You have a dog!”

Youngblood was back.

“Can I pet him?”

“What?”

“Does he play fetch? What kind of tricks can he do?”

“Uh…” It then occurred to Danny that there might be another way to handle this situation. He folded his arms and tried his best to look stern. “I don’t know, only good kids can pet this dog.”

“But I am a good kid!”

Danny raised an eyebrow and gestures to the damaged park. “Do good kids cause destruction like this. That tree is literally on fire.”

“I was only having fun, I didn’t mean to cause any harm,” Youngblood whined. “Please let me play with your dog. Please, please please.”

Danny pretended to think about it. “I don’t know. Cujo doesn’t like kids who go around scaring other people and wrecking stuff. He might not want to play with you.”

Youngblood looked crestfallen.

“But,” Danny continued, “I bet if you promise to never do it again, and only play games that don’t destroy stuff, he might be willing to forgive you and be your friend.”

“Really?!”

“Oh absolutely,” Danny said nodding. “Cujo loves kids who keep their promises.”

“Then I promise not to do it again,” Youngblood said and then rushed down to where Cujo was sitting.

The green pup wagged his tail happily when Danny landed with Youngblood.

Danny pulled a couple treats out of his pocket and handed them to the younger ghost. “Here I’ll even let you give him a treat.”

Youngblood happily gave Cujo treats and petted him and then went searching for a stick to play fetch.

Danny looked around to make sure no one was watching and turned back into his human form. The park was still in ruins but hopefully, this was the last time Youngblood would cause any trouble. Not that Danny was betting on it, but it was nice to dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I want to thank everyone who has been reading aGBaHD.
> 
> Second I wanted to let you know that I will be publishing new chapters less frequently during the month of April. During that time I will be participating in Phic Phight and will be writing a bunch of new stories based on the Phic Phight prompts. So bad news, less Cujo for a bit, but good news you'll get to read some of my other stories if you're interested.


	14. Ghost Dog Killed the Rock Star's Guitar

Danny couldn’t find Cujo, again. He always assumed the green pup was just sleeping somewhere and couldn’t hear him but he also worried that one of these days he’d learn the Cujo had managed to escape.

After checking the second floor, attic, and first-floor Danny made his way to the basement, calling out for his dog. The lab was empty except for a containment unit housing several lesser spirits. The green blobs leered at him through the glass, unable to escape and clearly resenting their captivity.

A scratching sound made Danny turn. It was coming from the portal. His brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what could make a noise like that. He got his answer when a green fluffy head poked through the door, yipped at him and squirmed the rest of the way through the thick metal barrier.

Danny’s mouth hung open. “You can still dig through that?”

Cujo bounced up to him and gave Danny a gentle headbutt before circling his legs excitedly.

Danny knelt down to scratch the pup's head when a hollow clash rang out from the portal.

Cujo’s ears perked up and then he turned tail and ran up the stairs.

“What did you do?” Danny asked accusingly as Cujo disappeared around the corner. The pounding from the other side of the portal door rang out again.

For a moment there was silence, then something glowed near the center of the barrier and in the next moment, the doors were thrust open. Blue flames completed flooded the frame and a furious voice roared in Danny’s direction.

“YOU!”

Danny barely had time to transform before the angry spirit flew across the lab, grabbed hold of his hazmat suit and slammed him into the nearest wall.

“Your dog ruined my favorite guitar!” Ember’s eyes were ablaze with raw fury as she snarled at Danny. “You owe me a new ax!”

“I thought he ruined a guitar.”

“Same thing,” Ember growled and dropped Danny on the floor.

Danny guessed ax was rocker talk for guitar, probably. “Look I’m sorry my dog ruined your...ax, but I don’t think I can afford to replace it. I’m not exactly loaded with cash.”

Ember’s hair flickered as she crossed her arms. “Not a problem,” She sneered. “My guitar was specially made in the ghost zone, and we don’t take cash there.”

Danny was confused, but also a bit relieved, “ok so what do you take.”

Ember shrugged and grabbed Danny’s suit again. “Depends on the ghost. In any case, you’re coming with me.”

Danny pulled back as Ember attempted to drag him to the ghost zone. “Wait you want to go now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ember sneered her voice heavy with sarcasm. “Is this a bad time?”

Danny tried to think if there was any really good reason he had to stay behind, but considering how angry Ember was, and the fact that, as Cujo's owner, he was sort of responsible, he really couldn’t refuse.

“No, no, now is good.”

“Good,” Ember said bitterly. “Come on.”

This time Danny didn’t resist as she yanked him into the ghost zone.

“So, uh, what exactly happened?” Danny asked. It would have been awkward to just fly in silence.

“Your mutt used my instrument as a chew toy. End of story. Usually, no one minds him running wild but…”

“Wait how often does he come here?”

Ember raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t know? Seriously he’s always running around this place. We thought you let him loose on purpose.”

“Uh, no. He's supposed to be contained at home except when we go on walks.”

“Well check your perimeter kid because that mutt gets out all the time.”

Danny was beginning to worry about who else Cujo had upset.

The rest of the way they flew in silence. Finally, they arrived at what looked like a grungy city version of New York. It was packed with ghosts and Danny was pretty sure he saw at least seven different criminal acts before he and Ember set down in a back ally.

“What is this place?”

“Necropolis,” Ember replied. “Not the boring one from your history class, this place is way better.”

Danny doubted that as he followed Ember through a side door with a neon skull dripping from the sign. Heavy metal and screeching wails echoed on all sides and Danny was pretty sure everyone in this place had multiple tattoos and piercings.

Ember led the way to a counter and Danny could see a large collection of instruments behind it, all of them glowing a different color.

“Yo Ricky,” Ember called to the balding ghost behind the counter. “I need a new ax, this guy is paying.” She jabbed her thumb at Danny.”

Ricky looked Danny up and down. “He don’t look like he can handle it.” Ricky drawled.

Ember snorted and crossed her arms with a smirk. “Oh, he can handle it.”

Ricky shrugged. “If you say so flame girl.”

Ricky motioned for them to go around and Danny followed Ember into a back room.

“Ok, I know I asked this before, but what exactly am I paying with?’

“Ricky’s all about the music,” Ember smirked. “You want one of his instruments you gotta sing.”

“Sing! Uh, now might not be the best time to let you know I am not a great singer.”

“Doesn’t matter. You just gotta put your ghost energy into your voice and let Ricky capture it in this device of his. He uses that energy when he makes the instruments. It’s what gives them their kick.” Ember then fixed Danny with an excited leer. “I know for a fact you have one hell of a ghostly wail.”

Danny was wondering if this was such a good idea after all. “One problem, when I use my...wail, things tend to end up seriously trashed.”

“Oh, I’m aware.”

Danny had no response.

Ricky brought in some sort of giant tuning fork with a crystal and then proceded to set up a huge metal disk behind it.

“There you go Ember. Let’s hear those notes and then we can get you a new ax.”

“Well,” Ember said motioning to the device. “You’re up kid, let's hear those vocals.”

Danny positioned himself in front of the device and took a breath. Seems there was no going back now. Bracing himself, Danny let his ghost energy build in his throat and his voice cry out, flooding it with strong feelings pain, fear, and desperation.

The room shook and the device trembled so much Danny thought it might break. Both Ember and Ricky had their ears covered.

The sound faded and Danny bent double, concentrating hard to keep his ghostly form after expending so much energy. To his surprise, the room was still in one piece.

Ember laughed and slapped him hard on the back, “That’s what I’m talking about.”

Ricky was wiping sweat from his face. “You weren’t kidding flame girl. He could handle it.”

“So, we done?” Danny asked.

“Yeah, we’re cool kid. I’ll see you around.”

Danny did his best not to look as tired as he felt when he walked out of the building. He wobbled only a little as he took to the air and headed home.

“The first thing I’m doing when I get back is getting mom and dad to reinforce the doors of the portal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadly not much Cujo in this one. I promise the next one will have more of our favorite green pup.


	15. Doting Jack

“Look at him,” Jack gushed, shoving his phone within inches of the cashier’s face. “Isn’t he just the cutest little bundle of ectoplasmic postcanine consciousness you’ve ever seen?”

Jack had been showing the pictures to just about anyone who would look. He’d finally figured out how to use the camera on his phone and had then proceeded to fill the memory with pictures of Cujo, half of which were blurry and he hadn’t learned how to delete yet.

The poor cashier was a local high school senior who was just trying to save up for a car. He didn’t want some enthusiastic customer shoving pictures of their pet in his face and spouting nonsense about whatever breed they were. He was, however, immediately concerned for the health of this particular pet. No dog was supposed to be green.

“Sir, you really shouldn’t dye your pet’s fur unnatural colors. It’s not good for them.”

“Oh that’s not dye,” Jack said excitedly, “that’s his natural, well technically supernatural color.”

“What?” The cashier looked confused.

“Yeah, all ghosts are green, well most of them anyway, some are blue, but most of the animal ones are green.” 

The cashier’s eyes widened, “You’re dog’s a ghost?” This was why he hated living in Amity Park. College would be a godsend.

“Now, now,” Jack went on. “No need to look concerned. He was dead when we found him.”

The look of worry quickly turned to one of horror. The young cashier gaped at Jack, he didn’t know how to handle this situation. None of his employee training had prepared him for this.

Jack meanwhile was distracted by more of the picture on his phone.

“No, that ones blurry. I really need to ask Jazz how to delete these. Then I can take more pictures of Cujo!”

“You’re dog’s name is Cujo!?” The cashier choked. He was now thoroughly convinced he was dealing with a crazy person.

“My son named him,” Jack grinned. “Actually my son was the one who brought him home. We were going to say no, seeing as my wife and I normally hunt ghosts…”

Yep definitely crazy. Maybe he could quit and work somewhere else. He heard the theatre was hiring again.

“...but he convinced us that having a ghost dog as a pet would actually benefit our ghost hunting so we decided to give it a shot.”

Jack smiled broadly again and shoved his phone back in the Cashier’s face. The picture looked upside down.

“This is a great shot,” Jack exclaimed. “The little guy had fallen asleep on the ceiling. He looked so cute up there I just had to get a picture. Of course, you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to take that shot. I’m still figuring out how to zoon on this so I had to get the ladder from the shed and climb up there. I was afraid I’d wake him but he slept soundly the whole time.”

Desperate to get out of this situation the cashier rang up the last item and punched a few buttons on the register.

“Your total comes to $14.74.”

Jack juggled his phone while he pulled out his wallet. Still yammering on as he did.

“My wife’s still not happy that we kept the dog. Which is odd because she’s always been a dog person. I think she’s just mad that he leaves muddy pawprints on the walls and ceiling. Danny’s been good about cleaning them up though. Danny’s my son, by the way, the one that brought the dog home.”

“Here’s your change, sir, thanks for shopping at Paul’s Pet Place.”

“That kid really loves that dog,” Jack continued, taking his change and picking up the plastic bag but not giving any other indication he was going to leave. “I think all kids should have a dog or some kind of pet growing up. We never had one before since our jobs made it too dangerous to own one, but this one fits perfectly.”

“Sir, there’s a line.” The cashier indicated the people waiting behind Jack, hoping that would get him to leave.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jack said bashfully. He then waved his phone at the other customers. “Did you guys want to see?”

Most of the customer shook their heads, but one in the back actually waved him over.

“I’d love to see pictures of your dog!”

Jack grinned broadly and, to the annoyance of everyone else, squeezed back through the line to show his phone to the other customer.

“Why is he green?” they asked. “Do you dye his fur?”

“No, no, that’s not dye. You see he’s a ghost…”

The cashier sighed heavily. This was going to be a very long day.


	16. With an 'i'

As the season grew colder and as the sun set earlier each day it became more and more common for Danny to come home to an empty house. Jazz had taken to studying at the library after school and their parents always began their ghost patrols just after sunset. Danny had taken to patrolling only when he knew his parents wouldn’t be. As a result on the days he wasn’t hanging out with Sam or Tucker he would come home to an empty house...well, almost empty.

“Cujo!” Danny called as he shut the door behind him.

When no ghost pup appeared he started up the stairs, calling out again as he went.

He was about to call again when his ear detected giggles and happy yips.

“What the heck?” Danny mused as he swung open the door to his room.

The scene that met him included a very happy Cujo being held aloft by a preteen girl with raven black hair and blue eyes. She looked every bit Danny’s little sister, and had she been a couple of years older she could have passed as his fraternal twin.

“Danny!” The girl exclaimed, rolling over on the bed to put Cujo on the ground. “Why didn’t you tell me you got a dog?”

Cujo ran across the room to do a lap around Danny’s legs before sprint back to the younger girl.

“That’s because you don’t have a phone, or e-mail, or any way to contact you at all,” Danny replied, half sarcastically. He then smiled. “You look good cuz.”

“Fresh air and sunshine will do that for a girl. You might consider getting some yourself.” Dani, as the girl preferred to be called, raised an accusing eye at Danny’s pale complexion. “Can’t hide a secret identity if your human form is paler than your ghost form.”

“Very funny,” Danny snorted. He motioned for the girl to move over so he could sit next to her on the bed. “So are you here for a social visit or are you in some kind of trouble?”

Dani gasped in full offense, “I never get in trouble.”

Danny ruffled her hair, pulling the beanie over her eyes as he did.

“Hey!”

Danny laughed.

Cujo barked and leaped back onto the bed, pushing himself between them as he tried to claim a spot of his own.

Dani laughed and roughly mussed the top of the pup’s head so his ears flopped back and forth. He seemed to enjoy it.

“Does he know any tricks?” Dani asked eagerly.

“Oh, a few,” Danny said standing up. “You know, the basics, sit stay, rolled over,” As he talked Danny carefully took a few steps away from the bed. “Oh, and  **Go Big!** ”

Cujo’s ear picked up at the sudden change in Danny’s voice and in the next moment, Dani was shrieking with surprise and glee as Cujo grew to the size of a car, forcing her from the bed.

“Woah!” Dani laughed as the ghost dog wagged his tail happily. The bed creaking with each swish.

“Go Small!” Danny commanded and Cujo popped back into his more manageable puppy form.

“That’s so cool!” Dani cheered. “I bet I could ride him like a horse.”

“Uh, he’s not exactly trained for that,” Danny frowned.

“But he could be,” Dani grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

A knock at the door made both of them jump suddenly.

“Danny?” It was Jazz. She was home early. “Do you have someone over, I thought I heard a new voice?”

“Or you could be going crazy,” Danny suggested. “Hearing voices  **is** a sign of insanity.”

“Oh, hardy har,” Jazz replied dryly.

Dani meanwhile had broken into a fit of giggles, which naturally encouraged Jazz to come in.

“Ah ha, you do have someone over,” Jazz said triumphantly.

“Don’t you knock,” Danny accused.

“I did knock,” Jazz sniffed. 

“Oh, right. Still, you should ask before coming in.”

Jazz rolled her eyes, “fine next time I’ll ask.”

Their sibling banter done with Jazz turned her attention to the girl standing by Danny's bed and petting their dog. She couldn’t help but notice the familiar black hair and blue eyes.

“Woah, did you get in cloning accident or something?”

“Actually, that’s pretty close to the truth,” Danny admitted.

“Wait does she know?” Dani squeaked. “Like  **know** , know?”

“Ok,” Danny said holding up his hands, so he could get their attention. “The short version is you both know about the half-ghost thing. Only Jazz didn’t know about you,” Danny pointed to Dani.

“I’m clearly missing a lot of contexts,” Jazz said in confusion.

“I’ll explain,” Dani offered, raising her hand. “Basically Vlad...do you know about Vlad?”

Jazz and Danny both nodded.

“Ok, so Vlad was really upset that Danny kept refusing to be his perfect half-ghost son, so he decided to try and clone Danny-”

“He what!”

“Please don’t interrupt,” Dani said seriously. “-most of the clones were really messed up and ended up melting but Danny helped stabilize my form before that happened so here I am.”

Jazz looked like she needed a seat. “Woah. I mean, I knew Vlad was nutso, but this is a whole nother level of fruitloopery.”

“Tell me about it,” Dani replied, rolling her eyes. “Gotta say, not the best father figure a girl could have.”

“Wait, you consider Vlad to be your Dad?”

Dani shuffled, “well, he did make me. I mean genetically I’m basically a female version of Danny, but I wouldn’t even exist without Vlad so that kinda make him my dad.”

Jazz moved towards Dani, he arms spread wide.

“Woah!” Dani backed up, holding her hand’s out defensively. “What are you doing?”

“You’ve clearly been through a lot. I think a hug is in order.”

“I don’t need a hug,” Dani replied stubbornly. “Besides all that stuff is water under the bridge. I’m totally fine now.”

“Oh really,” Jazz placed her hands on her hips. “So where are you living now?”

“The world is my backyard,” Dani smiled proudly. “I live where I want.”

“What about school? a home? Do you have anyone to take care of you?”

“I can take care of myself.”

Jazz’s eyes softened, “but you shouldn’t have to.”

“You know what I’m out,” Dani said as a white light expanded outward from her middle, changing her hair white and her eyes green. “It’s been a long day. I’ll come back to play with Cujo sometimes.”

“Wait!” Jazz tried to stop her but Dani was already in the air.

“See ya later,” She said as she flew through the wall and disappeared.

“Did you know about this?” Jazz whirled accusingly on Danny.

“Can you be more specific?”

“She’s homeless Danny! That’s not healthy for a kid of any age.”

“What are we supposed to do about it? She’s half ghost. She can’t just go live with any old family.”

Jazz was silent for a moment. “I have a plan.”

“Are you going to tell me this plan?”

“No. No, I am not.”


	17. The Long Con

True to her word Dani dropped by to play with Cujo at least once a week, but only when she could be certain that she wouldn’t run into anyone besides Danny. This left Jazz frustrated because it meant her plan was unlikely to pan out unless she could keep Dani from leaving. Her only option was to call in the special forces.

...

Jazz leaned heavily on the arms of her chair, her fingers steepled and her eyes focused on her phone. The shadows of her room were stretched to their limit but she had no desire to turn on the light. She knew the minute she got up to do so her phone would go off.

Had there been a traditional clock in the room Jazz imagined the ticking would have become unbearable by now, but since none was present she could only wait in silence.

The phone vibrated once. A single light began to flicker slowly.

Jazz snatched the device and flicked her finger across the screen. Two words appeared.

_ She’s here. _

Jazz started typing a response when the phone vibrated again.

_ I suggest plan C. _

Jazz deleted the message she had started and typed a new one.

_ J: Thanks, S. I’ll begin phase 1. _

S: _ I thought we agreed to call them steps? _

J:  _ I wanted to call them stages but you said this wasn’t a play, and you wanted to call them steps but I thought that didn’t allow for flexibility if anything doesn’t go as planned so we agreed on phases. _

S:  _ Fine just start already. _

Jazz sighed and scrolled back so she could open the string of texts from Danny.

Jazz:  _ Hey, Danny, one of the students I’m tutoring had a last minute emergency and needs help with a project. Since Mom and Dad won’t be back until late they had asked me to put the cookies away when they cooled but they’re still warm and I have to leave now. When you get home could you put them away for me? Thank you. _

_ Also, mom says we can eat them but to leave enough for dad. So like 12. _

_ Oh and Cujo’s in the yard so he doesn’t try and eat the cookies. _

Jazz waited a minute before getting a single word response agreeing to her request.

Grabbing her bag Jazz headed out the door. She drove her car a few blocks away before parking so it would look like she wasn’t home. She then waited for the text from Sam confirming they had arrived. Luckily it didn’t take long. Jazz guessed they had hurried back so the cookies would still be warm when they devoured them. After that, it was up to Sam.

…

Tucker let out a satisfied belch as he leaned back in his chair. Sam grimaced with disgust.

“How could you eat that many cookies?”

“Hey, Jazz said we only had to leave twelve for Danny’s dad, that meant the other four dozen were free game.”

“That doesn’t mean you had to eat half of them.”

Tucker shrugged.

“So now what?” Danny interrupted.

“I don’t know about you guys,” Dani replied, “but I am way too stuffed to move.”

Sam perked up, “Hey Danny, you still have that old PlayBox 180 right?”

“Yeah, why?”

Grinning Sam pulled a thin plastic box from her backpack. The cover was worn but depicted several characters in space suits shooting lasers at an undead alien.

Both Danny and Tucker shot up, their eyes wide.

“Is that what I think it is?” Tucker gasped.

“You bet it is,” Sam smirked proudly. “And it’s the uncensored version. Meaning there’s more blood, more gruesome deaths and more soul-wrenching screams than what they allowed in the states.”

Even Dani was interested now. “So we’re going to play it, right?”

No one bothered to answer because they were all darting up the stair to set up the PlayBox in Danny’s room.

Sam stayed back just long enough to send a text.

_ Phase 2 has begun. _

…

Jazz sent several pictures of delicious, fresh, steaming pizza to her father’s phone. It wasn’t long before she got a text from her mom asking what toppings she wanted. Jazz let her know that Danny had his friends over, including a new one and they might want to get a few extra pies.

Jazz then texted Sam that phase 3 was in progress and waited about twenty minutes before heading home herself.

The noise from the game was so loud that Jazz could hear it from the street, which meant that neither Danny nor Dani would be able to hear when anyone got home. Just to be sure Jazz waited in the living room, and as soon as the front door opened she leaped to her feet.

“Dad, let me help you with that,” Jazz grabbed the top two boxes. “I think we have paper plates on the top shelf. Could you get them down, I haven’t been able to find the step bench so I can’t reach them.” Jazz smiled sweetly to hide the fact that she had tucked the step bench into a closet upstairs to make sure that her Dad would have no choice but to help get the plates.

“Of course Jazzypants,” Jack smiled happily. He was speaking just a bit louder than usual to be heard over the noise.

Maddie put her purse on the counter and frowned up the stairs, “I guess I better let them know dinner is here. I doubt they’d hear me over...whatever that is if I tried to yell.”

While Jack reached for the plates Jazz shot a quick text to Sam.

_ Phase 4 heading your way. _

…

Sam had to ignore her phone both times it buzzed. It would have been too risky to check it now that they were playing the game. But she and Jazz has planned for this. She knew the first buzz meant the Fenton parents had fallen for the pizza bait and the second meant they had entered the house and (if the plan worked) Mrs. Fenton was about to knock on Danny’s door.

Sam had her character switch to the loudest and most destructive weapon in her arsenal and proceeded to unload it on the massive horde of undead aliens that were swarming their base. Between the roar of the weapon, the screams of the aliens and her own yells of excitement none of them noticed when Maddie did knock, or even when she opened the door.

Triumphant music sounded as words declaring they had successfully defended the base flashed across the screen. They cheered.

“That looks pretty violent, should you kids be playing that?” Maddie asked with concern.

Even Sam jumped at her sudden appearance.

“M-mom!” Danny gasped. “I thought you wouldn’t be home for hours.”

Maddie folded her arms. “Well, your dad had a sudden craving for pizza so we cut our patrol short.”

“Oh, that’s great,” Danny said, forcing his voice to sound sincere. “We haven’t had dinner together in a while.”

“That is, true,” Maddie nodded. “I think we should certainly do it more often. Now…” She smiled and clapped her hands. “I see you have a new friend, why don’t you introduce her.”

“Uh,” Danny glanced at Dani, taking note of her forced smile as she tried not to panic. “This is Dani, with an ‘i’, we uh, we got to know each other while talking about space stuff.”

“Well, it is nice to meet you, Dani, I hope you’ll join us for Dinner, we’re having pizza.”

Dani suddenly perked up. “I like Pizza!”

“Oh good,” Maddie smiled. “Why don’t you kids wash up and meet us downstairs.”

Everyone sighed as she left the room.

After a moment of silence, Tucker reached over to turn off the game. “That actually went pretty well.”

“No kidding,” Dani agreed. “I was certain our first meeting would include more ecto-blasts.”

Danny shrugged, “hey, the nights still young. Maybe they’ll try and shoot you after dinner.”

Sam scoffed, “and I thought I was the dark one.”

…

By the time they made it downstair Jazz and Jack had spread the pizza boxes across the counter and pulled spare chairs around the table so everyone could fit. Jack glanced at Danny and his friends and paused when his eyes fell on the smaller dark hair girl with familiar blue eyes.

“Maddie?”

“Yes, dear.”

“We only have two kids, right?”

“Yes, of course, Jack, this is Dani, with an “i” she’s a friend of Danny’s.”

Jack nodded. “Well nice to meet you girl Dani. Now tell me…” Jack leaned down with a very serious look on his face. Dani pulled back slightly, her eyes wide. “How do you feel about ghosts?”

“Dad!” Jazz scolded. “Enough with the ghost talk, let’s just enjoy the pizza.”

Jack sighed, “fine, fine.” He then cheered up. “We can talk about ghosts after dinner.”

Jazz groaned but let it go.

Everyone quickly grabbed plates and slices and somehow squeezed all seven of them around the kitchen table.

About five minutes in Cujo started howling at the door.

“I’ll let him in,” Dani offered, jumping up from her seat and hurrying to let the ghost pup inside.

Both Jack and Maddie suddenly look worried but before they could stop her Dani had opened the door and Cujo had bound inside and was yipping happily around her legs. She bent down to pet him and laughed as he licked pizza sauce off her hands.

Both Jack and Maddie stared in surprise.

“He likes you,” Maddie finally commented.

“Uh, yeah,” Dani shrugged. “We’ve met a few time.”

“You know,” Jazz chimed in. “Dani would make a great pet sitter if we ever need one. I mean how many people do we know who could be trusted to look after a ghost dog.”

“I don’t know,” Maddie hesitated. “He’s still a ghost.”

“Why don’t you have her over a few time to train with him then,” Jazz suggested. “That way you know for sure that he’ll listen to her.”

Jack looked thoughtful. “It would be nice to know there was someone who could check on him if we ever had to leave him home alone. It’s not like we can board him at the kennel.”

“I can do it,” Dani said excitedly.

“Well, I suppose we could try,” Maddie finally agreed.

Jazz smiled and exchanged a smug look with Sam. Phase 5 was complete, but they had a ways to go before they could call the plan a success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's been so long since my last update. I was doing some DannyMay art on tumbler, but I also got writer's block trying to figure out what Jazz would have planned. It will be a few more chapters before the rest of her plan plays out, but until then you can look forward to more short stories.  
> Real life is getting pretty busy so I think you can expect a new update about every other week. I hope you enjoy them.


	18. Lost

Jack was devastated. He sniffed loudly and squinted through his tears as he attempted to tape a lost pet poster to a nearby bus stop pole.

Earlier that day he and Maddie had been carrying groceries into the house when Cujo zipped under their feet and out the front door. The green pup yipped happily as he darted across the street, paused long enough to turn his head, ears perked upward, and then dash down the sidewalk.

Jack and Maddie tried to chase after him but he disappeared around the corner and they had no idea if he had actually turned invisible or had simply left their line of sight.

Jack immediately started to panic. Maddie had to remind him that as a ghost Cujo was not in danger of getting run over, or kidnapped. She didn’t mention that she was more worried about him feeling threatened and reacting aggressively. 

After an hour of searching, they returned home to get their ghost tracking equipment and to let the kids know what had happened.

…

Danny was at the Nasty burger with Sam and Tucker when he got the call. He immediately stood up and excused himself.

“Wait, Danny,” Tucker shouted, “I have that ghost tracking app on my PDA. We could help look.”

“I’d really appreciate that,” Danny said, standing halfway out the door. “Call me if you find him.”

Sam and Tucker nodded as Danny hurried into an ally to transform. Once he was in the air he pulled out the dog whistle and started blowing on it. No response. Maybe Cujo went to the park. They usually went that way on their walks.

Danny barely looked around to make sure no one was watching before changing back into his human form. The park was surprisingly empty, which hopefully wasn’t because a massive ghost dog had just hurried through.

Danny blew the whistle again and then called out. He waited a few minutes and called again. Still nothing.

Danny hurried to the park gates and started tracing the path he and Cujo usually took. With any luck, neither Valerie nor any other ghost hunters would be around and someone in his family would find the little green pup before he got into any real trouble.

…

Danny had made it home without so much as a flicker of Cujo’s glowing tail. He tried to think where else the dog might go. Normally he’d try the ghost zone but if Cujo ran outside the house then the ghost barrier would prevent him from getting back in. Danny would just have to keep looking.

Occasionally he’d get a text from his parents, Jazz or Tucker, asking if he had any luck, but his response was still no. He frequently checked the local news in case there were any sudden ghost watch reports covering green animals. The only thing that came up was the box ghost and a few unconfirmed sightings of green blobs. The box ghost one didn’t seem serious so he decided to take care of it later.

Danny started checking side streets and allies as he called out and blew the whistle. Cujo couldn’t have gotten too far, but then again he was a ghost. He could be in the next state over by now for all they knew.

Danny circled back to the park nearly a dozen times with no luck before collapsing onto an empty bench. He needed a moment to think, maybe he missed something, or maybe Cujo had snuck back into the house when no one was looking. He could be safe at home and they didn’t even realize it.

_ Yip _

Danny’s head shot up. 

_ woof _

Danny stood and looked around. He didn’t see any dogs, green or otherwise. Maybe Cujo was invisible. That would be a laugh. If the dog had simply been invisible this whole time and following at his heels, but then why wait until now to make any noise?

“Up here, kid.”

Danny looked up and he caught sight of a bright red jacket and skirt accompanying a mess of green hair and leggings to match.

“Kitty!?” Danny replied in surprise before realizing she has a squirming ball of glowing fuzz collected under one arm.

Kitty landed swiftly and held the delighted dog out in front of her for Danny to take.

“I believe this is yours.”

“Uh, yeah,” Danny was trying to process his surprise. “Thank you. Where-”

“Gas station just off the highway.” Kitty interrupted. “I think he followed a hot dog truck there.”

“Oh…” Danny hoped that was all he did.

“Word of advice,” Kitty snapped. “Stay away from Johnny for a few weeks.”

Danny didn’t want to ask but decided he had to. “Why should I stay away?”

“Your pup there lifted his leg against Johnny’s bike, which was bad enough while he was small, only Johnny tried to pick a fight and...well the next time he lifted his leg he wasn’t so small.”

Danny cringed. “I am honestly sorry that happened.”

Kitty eyed him for a bit before deciding he meant it and relaxed her stance. “Just keep a better grip on the mutt.”

Before Danny could respond she took to the sky and disappeared.

Danny glanced down at Cujo who excitedly tried to lick his chin. “You’re lucky you’re cute,” Danny sighed before pulling out his phone to let everyone know Cujo was found.


	19. To the Mountains

The Fenton RV resembled a tank, or some armored vehicle riot cops might use in high threat situations. Considering it was sometimes called the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle this was probably an accurate description. Today the entire Fenton Family, dog included, were heading for the mountains.

“Remind me again,” Jazz groaned, “why we’re taking this trip?”

“Camping, sweetie,” Maddie replied cheerfully. “We’re going to do some good old fashioned family bonding.”

“Then why did we bring all the ghost hunting equipment?” Jazz accused as she pointed to the abnormally large piles of weapons, traps, and other ghost related tools.

“That’s because we’re also going to be ghost hunting!” Jack proclaimed excitedly. “We even rented a cabin that’s supposed to be haunted.”

Jazz looked horrified. “What! Why would you do that?”

“Well,” Maddie began, “we know you kids like having time to do your own thing, so we thought it’d be a good idea if during the times we’re not bonding as a family your dad and I would also have something fun to do.”

“And you chose ghost hunting?”

“Of course,” said Jack enthusiastically. “What could be more fun than chasing after and capturing ghosts? Besides, we thought this would be a good chance to see how well Cujo’s training has paid off. Since we’ll be far, far...far away from anyone else there’ll be less damage if something goes wrong.”

“Danny!” Jazz exclaimed, turning to her brother, “say something.”

Danny was busy keeping an eye on Cujo who had stuck his head through the side of the Fenton RV. From his wagging tail, he seemed to be enjoying the feel of the wind in his face on the other side.

“Sorry, what? I was a bit distracted.”

Jazz groaned.

“Now, now,” Jack said gently. “This was all Danny’s idea.”

“What!”

Danny was now wishing he had paid attention to the conversation, that way he’d know why Jazz was suddenly so fuming at him.

“Why?” Jazz demanded. “Why would you think combining camping and ghost hunting would be a good idea?”

“Now hold on,” Danny said defensively. “All I said was the first time mom and dad take Cujo out to track ghosts they should do it in a controlled environment. Preferable away from the city.”

“And,” Jack added, “we just so happened to read this article about a haunted cabin in the mountains. Naturally, the only logical conclusion was to turn this into a family trip.”

“I think it’s good we’re going as a family,” Maddie chimed in. “It’s been too long since we did something together.”

“Common, Jazz,” Danny said reassuringly as he pulled Cujo back inside the RV. “It’ll be fun.”

Jazz moaned and hunched over in her seat. This was far from her idea of fun.

…

The cabin was surprisingly nice. The furniture was all new and it even had running water and electricity.

“Are you sure this place is haunted?” Jazz asked as she admired the workmanship of the fireplace.

“It better be,” Jack growled. “I paid good money for a  **haunted** cabin.”

“Why don’t you kids go unpack. You’ll be sharing the room at the end of the hall.” Maddie pointed past the kitchen to the door at the end of a short hallway. “Our room will be upstairs if you need us.”

Jazz dragged her bag to the backroom while Danny let Cujo off his leash. The pup immediately started running around the room and sniffing everything. He seemed especially interested in the fireplace and started digging at the stone.

“Great,” Danny mumbled. “this place probably has mice.”

“Is it a good idea to let him off the leash,” Jazz asked as she returned from the back room. “We haven’t set up any ghost barriers to make sure he doesn't run off.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Danny said waving the worry away. “We’re too far from anywhere else for Cujo to cause harm and the only reason people keep their pets locked up in places like this is so the pet doesn’t get eaten by a wild animal. Luckily Cujo’s bigger...well he can be bigger than anything out there.”

“Fair enough, but if this comes back to bite you I  **will** be saying I told you so.”

Danny shrugged. Cujo had been cooped up for so long it would be good for the pup to stretch his legs. Besides, the chances of something actually going wrong were pretty slim. “I think we’ll be fine.”


	20. The Cabin

The back room of the cabin was surprisingly large. Danny had expected bunk beds and a nightstand crammed into a virtual closet. Instead, there were two twin sized beds, each with their own nightstand on either side of a large window and even enough room for two full-sized dressers. The bathroom had both a hot tub and shower stall with a separate room for the toilet and sinks.

“Wow, this place is actually fancy,” Danny said, taking note of the real marble counter and what looked like ivory faucets. “Are we sure this place is haunted?”

“I’m still hoping it’s not,” Jazz replied. She was much less moody now that she was certain they wouldn’t be staying in some decrepit, rat-infested shack.

Cujo was still sniffing around the rooms and didn’t seem to have realized that this house didn’t have ghost shields to keep him from phasing through the outer walls.

“Well, I’m taking Cujo outside. He hasn’t been off leash in ages.” Danny said, heading back into the living room.

At the word ‘outside’ Cujo immediately ran for the door and started barking and pawing at the wood. Danny pulled it open and the green pup threw himself past the porch and proceeded to do sprints around the clearing. He shoved his nose into a few holes and inhaled whatever scent he found inside before he continued to sprint excitedly around the clearing again.

Jazz watched from inside while Danny searched for a stick. He discarded a few twigs before finding something decent and chucking it into the woods. Cujo pelted after it and came back with a completely different and much bigger stick. Jazz watched Danny shake his head and motion at the trees. Cujo responded by shaking the stick furiously and then running away when Danny tried to grab it.

Jazz turned from the window and pulled out her phone. A place this nice had to have decent wifi.

“Are you kidding me,” Jazz moaned. “This place has a fancy bathroom but no wifi!”

Jazz proceeded to search the rooms. Maybe there was a router but it had just been turned off.

After several minutes she realized that not only was there no router, there was also no phone and no tv.

“There’s not even a radio in this place.” Jazz complained to the empty air.

She pulled out her phone again and sighed when she saw there still weren’t any bars. This place was completely cut off from any and all outside communication.

“Great,” Jazz muttered sourly. “At least I brought a book.”

…

That night Maddie started a fire in the hearth while Danny and Jack went out to collect extra wood from the pile out back. Cujo had gone with them and even carried a log of his own into the house. On seeing the fire the ghost dog curled up on the rug in front of it and seemed content to nap.

The rest of the family each settled into a comfortable chair.

“Hey, dad,” Jazz started, “this place is way nicer than I thought it would be. How did you find it again?”

“There was an article about it in Cryptic Campsites magazine. It even had a pamphlet to rent the place out.”

“Isn’t that one of the weird magazines you and mom read?”

“One of several,” Jack said proudly. “This one’s especially great though. Vlad recommended it!”

Dany and Jazz both stiffened in their chairs and exchanged a look.

“Uh, dad,” Danny said tentatively, “this cabin wouldn’t happen to be owned by Vlad, would it?”

“Of course! Good old Vlad. He was so nice when I asked him about it. He even gave us a discount on renting it for the weekend.”

Jazz and Danny exchanged another look.

After several minutes of silence, Jack slapped the arms of his chair and rock forward.

“Well, time to hunt ghosts. Common Cujo.”

Cujo’s ear perked up at his name but his head tilted sideways in confusion. His confusion change to excitement when he saw Jack reach for the leash by the door.

Maddie collected the ghost gear while Jack attempted to hold the excited pup still long enough to hook the leash to his collar.

“You kids be good,” Maddie said sweetly, as she and Jack headed out the door. "We’ll probably be out late so don’t wait up."

Danny and Jazz waved them off with stiff smiles as they watched the glow of their family pet fade into the tree line. They stopped once only darkness was left.

Danny glanced up at Jazz. “We’ll probably need the spectral scanner.”

“Did they leave one behind?” Jazz replied.

“If not I still have my ghost sense.”

With a nod, they began searching for anything suspicious or dangerous that may have been hidden within the cabin walls, ceiling or floor.


	21. The Woods

Jack tread heavily through the dark undergrowth of the forest. His arm was pulled straight in front of him due to the excited romping of Cujo. The little glowing green dog was also doubling as a flashlight, allowing both Jack and Maddie to see several paces into the trees around them.

While Jack was busy holding tight to the leash Maddie was adjusting the setting on the spectral scanner. If any ghosts were in the area they would know about them shortly.

While Jack and Maddie adjusted their equipment a pair of glowing red eyes watched them from a distance. Pointed teeth glistened in a wicked grin before the dark figure twisted and darted through the trees to a camouflaged shipping crate about a mile from the two hunters.

Vlad Plasmius landed quietly near the container and searched his pockets for only a moment before pulling out a key. The lock of the container clicked softly. The doors swung open to reveal several glowing grates, each filled with a different spectral animal. Plasmius grinned again and proceeded to open the first several crates.

The ghostly beasts hesitated for only a moment before hurrying out of their cages and disappearing into the trees.

Vlad checked his watch. In another ten minutes, he’d release the rest of them.

…

Cujo had found a stick the size of a large sapling which he insisted on dragging along the path. Jack had been forced to switch the leash to his other hand in order to avoid having his ankles abused by the branches each time Cujo turned his head.

Maddie was still messing with the setting of the scanner. When it finally beeped she looked ready to cheer with joy.

“Jack, we got a reading,” she practically sang happily. The device beeped again. “Two readings. Oh, this is wonderful.” The device then beeped several more times in a row. “Oh...well the good news is there are plenty of ghosts in the area.”

“That sounds like the kind of sentence that’s usually followed by bad news,” Jack said suspiciously.

Maddie waved her hand, “Oh don’t be ridiculous. I was going to say the better news is, they are all heading straight for us.”

“Yes!” Jack exclaimed, pumping his fist. He then scooped up Cujo, who continued to chew on his branch. “We can test Cujo on them.”

The little glowing pup tilted his head to the side, the dried leaves on the branch rustling with the movement. He didn’t know what was happening but since his humans seemed excited he wagged his tail.

…

“Ugh!” Danny exclaimed, his hand digging into his own hair and making it stand in odd directions. “There has to be something here. A camera, a trap, something nefarious”

Jazz checked the scans again but they continued to turn up nothing. “Sorry, little brother. There’s still no sign of any ecto related activity in the cabin.”

“Vlad’s cabin,” Danny emphasized. “There has to be something here.”

Jazz slowly lowered the scanner, “or, maybe, this time he’s actually not planning anything.”

Danny gave her an incredulous look.

“Ok, fine, he’s probably planning something, but whatever it is doesn’t seem to be related to the cabin.”

Danny leaned heavily on the nearby window sill. “So, he’s probably out there then. Mom and Dad could be in trouble.”

“They have Cujo and a butt load of weapons,” Jazz shrugged. “Even if he did try something I’m sure they’d still be fine.”

Danny chewed his lip. “I’m going to check again,” he said, pulling away from the window. “We had to have missed something.”

…

“Gosh darn it, Cujo, you’re supposed to attack them, not play with them,” Jack yelled in frustration as he shot a glowing two-headed beaver.

Cujo looked up mid romp. He had been tumbling around with a bear-shaped ghost and playfully nipping at its ears. The bear was not so playfully trying to slash Cujo’s side but the ghost dog was currently much larger and had no problem pinning the bear in such a way that it couldn’t reach anything vulnerable.

Cujo happily yipped and grabbed the bear by its scruff before giving it a dizzying shake.

Maddie sighed and used a Fenton thermos to suck the bear out of Cujo’s jaws. “You know, I thought this ghost dog was supposed to be more vicious.”

Jack shrugged, “he just hasn’t learned the difference between work and play yet. We’ll train him to be a ferocious hunter in no time.”

Maddie glanced over to see Cujo panting happily while he bopped a large green bunny spirit on the head. The bunny snarled at him with carnivorous fangs. Cujo yipped happily.

“Yeah, I’m thinking he’ll be more useful for capture than actually spectral destruction,” Maddie muttered disappointedly.

Jack was busy lining up another shot when the incessant beeping of the spectral scanner suddenly went into overdrive.

Maddie glanced at the screen before her eyes widened and she shouted, “Take cover!”

Jack shouted for Cujo to go small and scooped up the pup before diving behind a tree. He quickly realized the small birch wasn’t going to conceal his girth and proceeded to run for better cover.

Maddie meanwhile had ducked behind a large boulder and was reloading the ecto charger on her weapon while ignoring the steadily increasing rumble that was shaking the ground. A few moments later a stampede of ghostly creature charged passed her hiding spot. Most of them ignored her but a few had to be discouraged with a well-placed ectoblast.

Jack meanwhile was having trouble finding cover suitably large enough to conceal him and Cujo. The rumbling was getting steadily louder and he was running short of time. Finally, he spotted what looked like a small ravine and dove into it just in time to avoid the flood of ghostly animals which passed overhead.

It was several minutes before the last glowing beast passed by and the ground finally stilled. Jack sighed and began to stand. Or at least he tried. The problem was his dive for safety has resulted in him getting wedged in a rather tight spot. He tried to wiggle free except the ground gave several inches leaving him even more stuck than he was before.

Cujo looked at him with confusion than gave a happy doggy grin before licking his nose.

Jack sighed, “you have no idea how much trouble I’m in do you?”

Cujo panted happily and wagged his tail.

“Now listen here Cujo,” Jack said seriously. Cujo’s ears perked up at his own name. “I need you to get Maddie and bring back here.” Cujo tilted his head at an angle. He didn’t seem to get it. Jack pointed out of the ravine and loosened his grip on the dog. “Cujo, fetch Maddie.”

Cujo’s ears perked up at the familiar command and he barked once before running up the walls of the ravine and disappearing from sight.

Jack watched him go, happy that the training seemed to have paid off.

…

Danny was slumped in one of the overly stuffed chairs by the fireplace. He had searched everywhere he could think of. He had even pulled all the books off the shelf in case one of them opened a secret door of some kind. Nothing.

Jazz meanwhile was staring at the fireplace. “You know, Cujo was pretty interested in the hearth earlier.”

“Except we checked the hearth. There aren’t any loose stones or fake back walls or anything.”

“Yeah, except, Vlad’s half-ghost. He wouldn’t actually need a secret door to get into hidden passages. He could just phase through the wall.”

Danny’s eye slowly opened wide and his hands made their way up to cover his face as he groaned. “I’m such an idiot.”

White light spread out from Danny’s center and he immediately dove into the floor by the fire. Jazz, meanwhile, could only wait for him to return. Hopefully with some kind of news.

While Jazz waited, a scratching, followed by a yip echoed from the cabin door. Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “Really hope that’s our dog.”

She sighed in relief when she opened the door to puppy-sized Cujo. She then frowned with worry. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Mom and Dad?”

Cujo darted passed her and up the stairs. A moment later he came running back down with a doll in his mouthy and hurried into the woods with it.

Jazz was too confused to react. “Where is he going with the Maddie plushie Dad made?”


	22. The Plan

Red eyes crinkled with glee as they watched the wiggling form of the fat man in the ditch. The fool made it too easy. The only real threat had been sent away and now the bumbling oaf was completely helpless. It would be faster to simply blast the earth on either side so it fell into the crevice, covering the imbecile completely, but the sound would most certainly attract unwanted attention. The best option would be to manually push the dirt into the hole. Vlad wished he had thought to bring a shovel but since this delightful twist had not been part of his initial plan he was left without an easily accessible tool for burying his hated rival.

With almost no effort Vlad propelled himself through the air, following the signs of crushed undergrowth and felled saplings. The faint glow in the distance let him know he was getting close. An extra burst of speed brought him to the head of the fleeing spectral beasts, all of whom skidded to a halt as he landed in front of them.

Vlad picked the biggest of the lot, each of whom had large clawed appendages which would be perfect for moving heavy mounds of earth.

“You four, I have a job for you.”

…

Maddie listened as the echo of her voice faded away. She had been calling Jack’s name for the last several minutes and had yet to hear any sort of reply. Under normal circumstances, she’d be worried, but Jack had Cujo with him and she doubted any too terrible could happen with the ghost dog at his side. She twinged slightly as she was forced to admit even the faintest bit of trust in the spectral hound, but time and again he had proven loyal to the family and her doubts were fading more each day.

“Jack!” Maddie called once more.

Only silence answered. Frustrated she dug into her pocket until she found a small silver whistle. She heard nothing as she pressed the cold metal to her lips but a few moments later, she caught sight of a bouncing green glow. Her hand twitched near her gun until a small dog bounded happily into view.

“Cujo, come here.”

Cujo gave a muffled yip and skidded to a stop at Maddie’s feet, his tail wagging happily. Maddie’s face twisted in confusion as she realized he was carrying something in his mouth.

“Drop it,” Maddie commanded.

Cujo immediately released his prize and panted happily, expecting praise.

“Good boy.”

Maddie picked up the item and realized it was a very familiar, smaller version of herself, although she had absolutely no clue what Cujo was doing with it. Even more concerning was the fact that Jack had failed to appear with the ghost dog.

“Cujo, where’s Jack?”

Cujo’s head tilted sideways for a moment and then he yipped happily.

“Cujo,” Maddie said firmly. Cujo’s ears perked up. “Find Jack.”

Cujo spun around and darted back into the woods. Maddie wasted no time following after him.

…

Jack sputtered and coughed and tried to twist so the dirt falling on his head didn’t go directly into his eyes and mouth. It was hard to see exactly what was happening in the dark but he was certain that the earth above him was loosening and started to crumble. He hoped Cujo returned quickly or else he’d be a bit more difficult to find. 

Jack sucked in a breath of air, readying to call out and hoping Maddie was near enough to hear him. Before he could shout a word, a noticeable green glow entered his line of vision. Accompanying the glow was red eyes and multiple rows of teeth connected to what had probably been a bear at some point in the past. Jack froze and hoped the ghostly beast had not yet seen him. A moment later the head pulled back, but the faint glow remained. The amount of dirt showering his head increased and Jack began to wonder if it was intentional.

…

Vlad watched with glee as his minions dug their sharp claws into the earth and dragged chunks of it through the air and into the hole. The only downside was the size of both the ravine and the man within it meant it was taking a rather long time to bury both. If they took too long the green mutt would return before the job could be completed.

Impatient Vlad pointed his finger and shot a small blast at the hindquarters of each of the beasts. “Is that the best you can do? I haven’t got all day and at this rate neither do you.” Vlad’s eyes flashed threateningly and the creature began to dig faster.

Vlad only had a moment of glee before his ears twitched, catching the sound of movement approaching and quickly. “Mont Blanc,” Vlad swore. He had run out of time. “I suppose I’ll have to go with plan B then.”

Without blinking, Vlad gathered a fistful of ecto energy and blasted the nearest ghost beast. It collided with a tree, cracking the trunk just before it fell limply to the ground. The other creature froze in confusion and terror.

“My apologies,” Vlad said with false sincerity, “but I have a bad first impression to make up for.”

…

Maddie saw the sudden blast of light before she heard fearsome snarls and a voice which would have sounded almost human if not for the ethereal echo. She wasted no time drawing her weapon and after passing several more trees she focused her line of sight on the creatures before her. At least four large animal-like ghosts, two of which were already down, and a familiar humanoid specter sporting the kind of cape only popular in bad monster movies.

Maddie hissed between her teeth. Her priority was finding Jack, not getting in the middle of a fight between ghosts. But she also couldn’t just pass by, not when the Wisconsin ghost had made an appearance so far from his usual haunt.

“Cujo,” Maddie commanded, immediately getting the ghost dog’s attention. “Go big.”

Cujo shot up so fast that several branches snapped against his back on the way up. A large booming bark echoes from his chest as he charged into the fray, his teeth snapping fiercely at the nearest specters.

Maddie knelt tactically behind and tree and fired a few well-placed shots to make it easier for Cujo to grab hold of the ghost beasts. The ethereal animal soon turned tail and run, leaving only the Wisconsin ghost. Cujo lunged at the smaller humanoid who barely flinched away from the razor-sharp fangs before talking to the air.

“Call off your beast!” He shouted.

Maddie replied by firing an ectoblast at him.

“I was trying to help,” The ghost insisted, dodging the blast and then jumping several more feet into the air to avoid having his ankles mauled by the ghost hound below him.

Cujo stalked the humanoid spirit from the ground, growling menacingly as he circled below.

Maddie readied another shot when a familiar voice broke her concentration.

“Maddie! Maddie, is that you?”

“Jack!”

Maddie hesitated, she didn’t lower her weapon but she did hurry sideways until she could look into the hole where her husband’s voice echoed. Jack sputtered up at her, partially covered in loose dirt and a few rocks.

“Jack! What on earth are you doing in there?”

“Oh, well I was looking for cover from the stampede and...well I sort of got stuck.”

“I can see that,” Maddie sighed, partly relieved and also partly annoyed. “I’ll get you out in a minute, I have a ghost to disintegrate first.”

“Now hold on,” the Wisconsin ghost pleaded, raising both hands defensively. “I stopped those feral specters from burying him alive. Won’t you at least hear me out?”

“Oh, so suddenly you’re a good ghost? I seem to recall you possessing my husband at our friend’s castle, along with causing all sorts of destruction the other times we crossed paths.”

“Only in self-defense,” the spirit replied defensively. “After all, you two invaded my home, armed to the teeth, and speaking nothing but ill towards my kind. I was absolutely terrified you were planning to end my very existence.”

The ghost gave the most mournful look. Maddie tried to recall how that incident had started. She didn’t recall doing anything to start a fight, but then again she wasn’t entirely sure Jack hadn’t done anything while she wasn’t looking.

“What about all the other times?” Maddie insisted.

“I never shot first. Besides, how do you expect me to behave when I’m constantly being hounded by two hunters intent on tearing me apart molecule by molecule. I’ve only ever acted in self-preservation.”

Maddie tried to find fault in his words. He sounded just a bit too sincere, but she also could remember a time she and Jack hadn’t shot first when it came to ghosts.

“That doesn’t explain why you suddenly want to help us.” Maddie shot back.

The ghost pointed at Cujo. “Because of him.”

Maddie couldn’t hide her surprise.

“That dog,” the Wisconsin ghost continued, “Has been welcomed into your family. You’ve actually started to accept and understand at least one ghost as something other than a monster. To be honest,” The spirit placed his hand over the place where a living person’s heart would reside. “It gave me hope, that maybe you weren’t as blindly biased as I once thought, and perhaps, if given the chance, you might come to see more of us as we truly are and not just the horrors most assume us to be.”

Maddie hesitated. This had to be a trick, but maybe he really did save Jack. Two of the ghost beasts had been down before she even arrived here and she did see what looked like an ectoblast just before she saw them. She also couldn’t find fault in his explanation. Perhaps she and Jack really had misjudged this ghost. Maybe Cujo wasn’t the anomaly she had thought.

“I...I still don’t trust you, ghost.”

“I understand.”

“But...I’m willing to let you go this time...and I’m willing to consider the possibility of you not being entirely evil.”

The ghost swept his arms into an elaborate bow. “That’s all I ask.”

Maddie shivered at the glint from his grinning fangs. It was unsettling.

“Now I believe you no longer need my help. I will bid you adieu.”

The ghost vanished.

Maddie waited a minute before putting her gun away and leaning over the hole where jack still lay.

“Cujo,” she called.

Cujo bounded over his tail wagging.

Maddie pointed at Jack. “Fetch.”

…

Vlad waited until he was a good distance from the couple before dropping his invisibility. A scowl adorned his face. He had been so close to getting rid of Jack. Just five more minutes and one of his problems would have been gone forever. Still, he had accomplished at least one goal tonight. Vlad’s fanged smile glinted under his glowing red eyes. Now Maddie was considering his ghostly form as a possible ally, or at the very least as a non-threat. With a little more persuasion she may even come to appreciate his ghostly half. His plan may not have worked perfectly, but it was a good start.


	23. Questions Unanswered

Diving directly into the hearth had not been Danny’s best idea. The solid earth on all sides made him extremely uncomfortable even though his intangibility kept him safe. His mind wandered briefly to a fear of his powers shorting out and him being trapped half fused with the ground and buried alive. He shook the fear off and continued circling around in hopes of finding some hidden passage to justify his suspicions.

Danny was just started to consider he might be developing an unhealthy paranoia involving Vlad what suddenly there was a change in the feeling of the earth around him. It was still there but it felt more solid and there was definitely an increasing number of gaps.

Danny gathered ecto energy in his still intangible hand, just enough to create some light. The glow illuminated crumbled stone and brick mixed with earth. Danny followed the brick, taking note that the soil hadn’t filled all the spaces between the loose stone. That had to mean that...yes!

“Ha,” Danny cheered. “Not paranoid.”

Danny returned to tangibility and landed triumphantly as the piles of rubble and earth finally gave way to an arched stone tunnel which dripped with moisture and was slick with moss. His glowing ecto energy glistened off the surrounding walls and ceiling. The place looked old and abandoned.

Danny turned around. The broken stone and wet soil had slid a good way into the tunnel, tapering out near his feet. From all appearances, it looked as though the ceiling had caved in. The healthy growth of moss and lichens suggested this had happened some time ago. Additionally, Danny had no idea if this tunnel had even gone near the house. It can’t have been too far off but he could see it curving behind him which suggested it could have ended anywhere.

Danny’s fist splatted against the wall and he immediately regretted this expression of frustration as he felt the wetness of slime absorbed through the glove. Cringing in disgust he went intangible to let the grossness fall off of him. The memory lingered however and he made a mental note to wash his everything afterward.

“Great,” Danny muttered to himself. “I found a tunnel but no evidence it actually is used by Vlad.”

Just to be sure Danny followed the tunnel for several minutes until he came to another cave-in. He tried going intangible and following the rubble but he lost his way and had to go to the surface to figure out where he was. Disappointed he returned to the cabin.

…

Jazz had decided to occupy one of the chairs by the fire as she waited for Danny to return. She considered searching the house again but she doubted she’d actually find anything. The silence quickly bored her even as the tension of not knowing what Danny had found, if anything, prevented her from moving. If there had been a tunnel surely Danny would have found it by now. Or had he run into trouble? Was he trapped in some kind of ghost capture device and beyond her ability to rescue? What if he ran into Vlad and they were now fighting?

The worry brought Jazz to her feet as she started to plan for worst-case scenarios. How bad would it have to be before she was forced to tell their parents? Should she try and contact Sam and Tucker first? Only she had no way to contact them, and this was Vlad they were talking about. If she waited too long Danny might be beyond help, but if she acted too soon she might unnecessarily give away his secret, a secret that was not her to tell.

Jazz was just starting to work herself into half a frenzy was Danny flew through the front door and landed in front of her.

“Oh thank god, I was worried I might have to tell mom and dad.”

“Tell them what?” Danny panicked.

“No it’s nothing,” Jazz waved it away. “It’s just, we don't have the usual back up and if you had run into Vlad and things got really,  **really** bad…”

“Ok I get it,” Danny said holding his hands up. “Yeah, we...should probably talk about that. But not now.” Danny sighed and rubbed his hands through his hair, only to cringe as he remembered the slim that had soaked into one of the gloves. He may have gotten rid of it but somehow the glove still felt dirty, and now, so did his hair. “I found a tunnel, but it’s caved in on both sides. Far as I can tell it hasn’t been used in ages.”

“So we got nothing.”

Danny sighed and turned human again before falling into one of the chairs. It brought him a bit of glee to imagine that the slime and muck from the tunnel was now on Vlad’s expensive furniture. True there wasn’t any actually muck to smear on the fabric, but he still felt dirty from being in that tunnel and it made him happy to think those molecules were now transferring from him to the chair.

“Yeah,” Danny finally replied. “We got nothing.”

Jazz returned to her chair and slumped in disappointment. Maybe they missed something.

“Hey, Jazz?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think...maybe I’m just a bit paranoid about Vlad? I know he’s done a bunch of suspicious stuff before, but maybe this time he wasn’t actually planning anything.”

Jazz bit her lip. On one hand she felt Danny was perfectly justified in suspecting Vlad at every turn, but on the other hand that line of thinking wasn’t healthy, and even if it was true at times Danny would go insane if he spent all his time worrying about Vlad. Jazz felt torn. Before she could decide how to answer however voices began to carry through the window from outside along with excited yips.

Both siblings looked up as the door opened. Cujo came bounding happily inside leaving a trail of muddy paw prints all over the floor. Their mother followed after, her mouth set in a thin line and her brow furrowed in thought. Their father entered last, covered in dirt.

“Hey kids.” Jack’s smile seemed slightly stretched as though he might have been forcing it a little. “I thought you would have been in bed by now.”

Both Danny and Jazz glanced at the nearest clock. It was nearly 11.

“I guess we lost track of time,” Jazz explained with a nervous chuckle.

“How was ghost hunting?” Danny interjected, his voice just a bit too eager.

Luckily, neither parent noticed.

Jack’s shoulder slouched. “Well, we didn’t catch anything. Chased off a bunch of spooks though so it wasn’t a total bust.”

Jazz noticed the questioning glance her father exchange with their mother and her eyes narrowed. A quick look at Danny assured her he had also seen the look.

“Anything familiar,” Jazz pressed.

The pause before the reply was just a bit too long.

“Well, it’s hard to say,” Maddie finally answered. “So many animal ghosts look alike after all. But it would have been extremely odd to find a ghost from Amity park way out her in the woods.”

Jazz wanted to ask about ghosts from other places. Specifically big castle places with very wealthy owners who have a penchant for green and gold. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of a good way to phrase such an inquiry without making it sound out of place.

“Well hopefully none of them follow us home,” Jazz grimaced.

Maddie brows were furrowed again. “Yes, that would be for the best. Although…” She stopped and shook her head. “Well, in any case, it’s late and if we’re going to get home before you kids have school on Monday we’re going to have to leave early tomorrow.”

The goodnight wishes were awkward, but everyone seemed too caught up in their own thoughts to notice. Danny and jazz got ready for bed and then listened to the shuffling and water noises above them as their parents did the same.

“Mom and dad were acting strange, weren’t they?” Jazz voiced, staring at the ceiling.

“Definitely,” Danny agreed.

“Do you think...maybe Vlad really did have something planned.”

Danny groaned and Jazz heard the bed creak as he rolled over. “I don’t even know what to do next. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe they just had a completely normal, non-scheme related ghost hunting trip.”

“We could just ask them for more details. They are both still hoping we’ll go into the family business.”

Danny groaned again. “I don’t want to be a ghost hunter, and my grades aren’t good enough for paranormal research.”

Jazz bit her tongue to hold back on pointing out that her little brother still wanted to be an astronaut, even with his bad grades. Bringing that up would only start a fight. Jazz made a mental note to offer to help Danny study.

“We could play it up as a school assignment. Or maybe tell them we have a friend interested in ghost hunting.”

“Except they’d then want to meet that friend. Do you have any friends who actually want to hunt ghosts.”

“No.” Jazz admitted. She then rolled onto her elbow, “But you know somebody.”

“What? No I...oh. No, nonononono. If I bring her in, she’ll be at our place all the time. That’s more chances she’ll find out the truth. Also, she hates Cujo.”

“So did Mom and Dad, now they love him. Well, dad loves him and mom has grumpily accepted him. Besides, if she’s over more often she might learn that Cujo isn’t so bad, which could mean that she eventually learns that other ghosts, specifically certain half ghosts also aren’t so bad.”

Danny was silent and then grabbed his pillow and groaned into it. “Fine. I hate it but you’re right, and we need to know what happened.”

“Right, so talk to her Monday.”

Danny sighed. “Yeah, I’ll talk to her Monday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry these updates have been getting further and further apart. RL is just super busy right now. I can only guarantee un update a month at this point, but I will try and do every other week when possible.


	24. Frenemy

Valerie’s mouth hung loose and gaping as she stared wide-eyed at Danny. The momentary shock was quickly wearing off though. Danny watched as her forehead began to scrunch up and her eyebrows slanted in concern and worry. As to what had taken her by surprise, well that had to do with the fact that Danny needed her help, although he couldn’t tell her that, and the only way he could get that help was by admitting he knew her secret.

“How long?” Her voice was quieter than he had expected. Certainly not a whisper but also not the aggressive shout he had been expecting. “How long have you known?”

“Since you started, well not exactly since you started but shortly after.” Danny rubbed his arm and his feet shifted uneasily beneath him. He watched the expressions on Valerie’s face shift as various thoughts and emotions ran through her head.

“And, you never said anything?”

“It was your secret. Besides at the time we didn’t really get along yet, and once we did start getting along I thought it best to let you tell me on your terms.” It was a half-truth. Danny had never considered letting Valerie know he knew, but he had also been open to listening if she ever decided to admit it.

“So why change your mind now?”

Danny drew a steady breath. Jazz had helped him come up with a few excuses in case questioning such as this occurred. “A few reasons actually, one of them is that it’s getting more dangerous. I know you can handle yourself, you’re an amazing ghost fighter.” Jazz had suggested using compliments to make Valerie drop her guard. She had also said to only say the truth because Danny was a terrible liar. “But,” Danny continued, “we’re just kids, and there have been times I saw you get really badly hurt while fighting. I...I was hoping maybe you’d stop on your own, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Danny drew another breath, forcing himself to not speak too quickly. “If you’re going to keep doing this, I thought, maybe your chances of staying safe would be better if you had some training, mentors even, who could show you the ropes and share their experience with you.”

Valerie's face softened and then she smiled. “You really are sweet.” Her eyes then glittered and her smiled turned sharp with excitement. “Having a mentor does sound good, and don’t your parents make all sorts of ghost hunting weapons.”

Danny flinched. “Uh, yeah they do. They make stuff like then.”

“...Would I have to tell them that I already hunt ghosts?”

“Only if you want too.” Danny hoped she didn’t. The last thing he needed was the red huntress and his mom teaming up to destroy his ghost half. “But they get so excited over anything ghost-related so I don’t think you’ll need to.”

Valerie was silent. Her hand rested on her chin as her brow furrowed with thought. “I don’t know.”

“You could just talk to them. It’s not like you have to commit to anything. They like sharing their knowledge so you can ask them anything whenever you want, even without officially studying under them.”

Danny watched as Valerie’s brow unfurrowed slowly. It was an offer for access to knowledge without any strings. Another suggestion by Jazz. Who knew her study of psychology would actually be useful?

“Yeah, alright,” Valerie finally nodded. “It won’t hurt to at least talk to them.”

…

“Why are you cleaning the house?”

Danny looked up mid vacuum to meet Jazz’s very confused eyes.

“Valerie’s coming over today.”

“So? It’s not like you guys are dating anymore. You don’t need to impress her with a clean house.”

“That’s not...She’s still a guest. We shouldn’t let guests see a messy house.”

“You never clean for Sam and Tucker.”

Danny tutted, “They don’t count. Those two are practically family.”

“So are you going to clean the lab too?”

Danny froze. He had forgotten about the lab. “Oh, no. That place is a disaster. I don’t have time to clean it before she gets here!”

Jazz sighed. “Well too late now. We’ll just have to hope messy lab chic comes off as eccentric genius and not mad scientist.”

The doorbell rang.

From the second floor, Cujo started barking and moments later he fell through the ceiling and charged the door, launching excitedly against the frame and looking expectantly at Danny and Jazz. 

Danny scooped up the small pup, who continued to wiggly and yip in his arms while he fumbled the door open.

Valerie’s mouth had pulled into a thin line and her eyes were not focused on Danny.

“Hi, Valerie. Sorry about Cujo. Ghost or not he’s still a dog.”

One of Valerie's eyebrows lifted itself as her eyes finally met Danny’s. “Right,” She responded flatly.

“Uh, so my parents are in the lab.” Danny pulled back and gestured for Valerie to enter.

“So the basement then?”

“Yeah.” Danny closed to the front door and led the way through the kitchen and down the stairs. He tried to remember if Valerie had been in the lab before or not. If she had was when they were dating or during one of the ghost invasions? Or maybe she had never been down here and he had simply forgotten.

Danny shook his head as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey Mom, hey Dad, I have a friend who wanted to ask you about ghosts.”

Whatever they had been working on sparked as they looked up. They both had their hoods up and goggles on.

“This is Valerie, uh, I think you guys have met before.”

Jack pulled back his hood and goggles and squinted his eyes as Danny’s friend.

“Valerie? That name sounds familiar.” Jack bent down, his large body leaning heavily over the two teens. “This wouldn’t happen to be the same Valerie who broke your heart leaving you devastated for days on end?”

“What? No!” Danny had not been devastated for days on end. Maybe a few hours at most. Also, he needed his parents and Valerie to get along. Danny shot a look at Valerie and hoped she got the hint. “This, uh, this is a different Valerie. The one who broke up with me, and did not leave me devastated in any manner, uh...moved away. The two of them have the same name and look very similar but I assure you they are completely different people.” Danny hoped he had only imagined his voice rising an octave as he lied, he also hoped no one noticed if it had.

Jack straightened immediately his face brightening. “In that case, welcome new Valerie. So I hear you want to know about ghosts.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Excellent! The first thing you need to know is that all ghosts are evil, no exceptions.”

Valerie folded her arms. “Don’t have to tell me twice.”

“Except Cujo.”

Valerie’s brow knitted and she started to open her mouth.

“Now Cujo is the one exception. He is a good boy. The goodest boy in fact and no one can convince me otherwise.”

Valerie tried raising a questioning hand but Jack was on a roll and there was no stopping him now.

Danny turned to escape but found the gentle hand of his mother resting on his shoulder. He turned to meet her worried eyes.

“Danny,” her voice was soft. “Are you ok with this?” She gestured to Valerie and Jack. “I know it was hard when you two broke up.”

Danny sighed. He could trick his dad but his mom was another matter. It was a miracle she hadn’t noticed his biggest secret. “Yeah, I’m good. Valerie’s a good person, and even if dating didn’t work out she’s still a friend.”

His mom smiled. “That’s quite mature of you.” She ruffled his hair. “When did you get so grown up?”

“Mom!” Danny protested pulling away.

Maddie raised her hands in surrender.

Danny frowned and patted his hair back into place. “Well, have fun, and try to keep Dad from scaring Valerie off.”

“I’ll do my best,” Maddie smiled.

Danny started back up the stairs. His father’s voice carrying after him.

“So, Valerie,” Jack said, his tone surprisingly serious. “How do you feel about hazmat suits?”


End file.
